Kabul, Afghanistan ? The Afghan government agreed to some Taliban demands in a deal to secure the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist, but one prisoner the militants wanted freed preferred to remain in jail, an official said Tuesday.

President Hamid Karzai told authorities to find a solution to the kidnapping, citing Afghanistan’s good relations with Italy, said his spokesman, Mohammad Karim Rahimi.

Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a reporter for Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, arrives at Ciampino military airport Tuesday. Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taliban two weeks ago and was released Monday.

Daniele Mastrogiacomo was freed Monday after two weeks in captivity. The reporter’s Afghan driver, who also was seized, was beheaded, and the fate of his translator is not known.

Mastrogiacomo arrived in Rome on a flight from Kabul late Tuesday, and was met at the airport by Premier Romano Prodi and his family. The journalist raised his fists in exultation as he stepped off the plane and waved at reporters.

About 150 angry relatives of the Afghan driver, meanwhile, demonstrated Tuesday in Helmand province against the government, saying it ignored his plight to focus on securing Mastrogiacomo’s release. The driver was identified as Sayed Agha.

Rahimi said some of the kidnappers’ demands “were accepted.”

“You see the result of it – the journalist was released,” Rahimi told a news conference. “This was an exceptional case, and it will not happen again.”

Rahimi repeatedly refused to say whether any prisoners had been exchanged for Mastrogiacomo, although he said that one prisoner the Taliban wanted freed refused to take part in the deal.

“He himself didn’t want to be exchanged. He didn’t want to be released through this process, in exchange with the Italian journalist,” Rahimi said, without identifying the prisoner.

Two Afghan officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said prisoners had been released in exchange for Mastrogiacomo. One official said five prisoners were released; the other said three had been freed.

Mullah Abdul Rahim, a purported Taliban commander in Helmand province, told The Associated Press last week that the Taliban wanted at least two men released – Mohammad Hanif, a Taliban spokesman captured by Afghan officials in January; and Hanif’s predecessor, Mullah Hakim Latifi, who was arrested in 2005 in Pakistan.

Mastrogiacomo, who writes for Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, and the two Afghans traveling with him were kidnapped March 5 in Helmand province’s Nad Ali district. Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility.

Mastrogiacomo, 52, has worked for La Repubblica newspaper since 2002 as a correspondent in Afghanistan and the Middle East.