OTTAWA - A CANADIAN journalist from national broadcaster CBC was freed on Saturday in Afghanistan four weeks after she was kidnapped in the capital Kabul, her employer said.

Ms Mellissa Fung 'was released around noon Toronto time (2am, Singapore time) and is now safe within the Canadian Embassy in Kabul,' the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said in a statement.

Her abduction on Oct 12 had been kept a secret by the broadcaster out of concerns for her safety.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that no ransom had been paid to secure her freedom.

'No ransom was paid. It's the government's policy not to pay ransoms and all policies were fully respected,' he told a press conference.

Mr Harper said 'security issues surrounding this case' kept him from providing details of Ms Fung's case, but said 'there were hundreds and hundreds of people involved in her release.'

CBC News publisher John Cruickshank said in the statement that the decision to keep the kidnapping out of the news had been taken on advice of the company's security experts.

'All of the efforts made by the security experts were focused on Mellissa's safe and timely release. For this reason, we can only share general information about the events of the last three weeks,' he said.

The broadcaster did not provide details on who abducted Ms Fung or where she had been held in its statement.

A report on the CBC website said 'Ms Fung was taken by armed men who approached her in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul on Oct 12' and was taken to mountains west of the Afghan capital.

'We appreciate the deep cooperation between Afghan and Canadian authorities on this case, and the continued support provided by Canada to Afghanistan in general,' the Embassy of Afghanistan in Ottawa said in a statement.

Ms Fung, who covered the Beijing Summer Olympics earlier this year, was to undergo a full medical evaluation, 'but early indications are that she is well,' CBC said.

Ms Fung was the second kidnapped female Western journalist in Afghanistan to be released in as many days.

A Dutch journalist abducted by suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan a week ago was freed on Friday and is in good health, according to her employer, Belgian P-magazine. -- AFP