Afghanistan hit back at Italy yesterday for meddling in negotiations to free an aid worker kidnapped ten days ago, escalating a war of words between Rome and Kabul. Clementina Cantoni, who works for CARE International, was dragged from her car in Kabul by armed gunmen in an incident which has prompted foreigners to tighten security measures. "The Italian Embassy, without informing us, has set up some contacts with the alleged kidnappers. We believe these kind of contacts are not helpful for the negotiations and the safe release of Clementina," Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told AFP. "We were suggesting that the contacts should be made from one channel, from the Afghan side only," Mashal said.