ROME: Italy on Tuesday admitted paying ransoms to obtain the freedom of some hostages, saying it approached negotiations on a case-by-case basis. “Cases vary,” Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli said on Italian radio, suggesting that a firm policy of not paying ransoms such as that of the US was “a little mechanical.”

“In most cases where we have succeeded in intervening positively there was no money payment,” he said.

“We have never carried out a military blitz, but that doesn’t mean that we have always reached for our wallet,” Pistelli added. Six Italians are currently being held hostage, three in Syria, two in Libya and one in Pakistan.