The Italian Foreign Ministry says militants in Nigeria have released an Italian oil worker seized last month from a terminal in the Niger Delta.
Two of his Italian colleagues who were kidnapped at the same time remain in captivity, as does a Lebanese man.
A militant group called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it had released Italian Roberto Dieghi as a goodwill gesture.
There has been a spate of kidnappings in the Niger Delta region.
Militants seeking a greater share of the region’s oil wealth have targeted foreign oil facilities and their workers since early 2006.
Rising violence
Mr Dieghi was handed over to a Bayelsa state government delegation at around 0100 local time (0000GMT) on Thursday, the militants said.
Mend denied that his release was linked to his poor health, calling it “an act of goodwill on our part which we hope will be reciprocated by the Nigerian government”.
No discussions were going on concerning the remaining men, who would be held “indefinitely”, a statement from the group said.
The men are all employees of Italian oil firm Agip.
In recent months attacks have escalated and oil multinationals have evacuated thousands of workers from the western side of the region.
On Tuesday, two oil workers – a Nigerian and a Dutch national – were killed when gunmen attacked a vessel near an oil export complex.
The instability in the region has reduced Nigeria’s oil production, costing the country some $4.4bn (�2.2bn) last year, according to the government