German hostages 'freed in Turkey'

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Three German climbers taken hostage by Kurdish armed rebel group the PKK have been freed, BBC reports.

The tourists were seized from their camp on Mount Ararat in Turkey's eastern Agri province on 9 July.

The PKK vowed not to release them unless Germany renounced its crackdown on the group, defined as a terrorist organisation by the US, EU and Turkey.

But news of their freedom was reported on the CNN-Turk and Turkish NTV television channels on Sunday.

"We have the German mountaineers. The Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has called the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to inform him," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

The Germans were part of a 13-member climbing team that had set up camp at 3,200m (10,500ft) on the mountain, the highest in Turkey and a popular tourist destination.