Release of Italian aid worker shines spotlight on European divisions over ransoms

Ms Romano was freed from close to Mogadishu, Somalia, after Italian intelligence services worked with their Turkish counterparts and Somalian government officials. Work on her release started in December last year, according to reports. Her case and the survey highlighted the difficulties of payments when the life and death of citizens was in the balance, according to Tom Keatinge, the head of the financial crime centre at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank.