(ANSA) - Rome, May 11 - Silvia Romano, an Italian aid worker kidnapped by a gang in Kenya 18 months ago, held by Islamists miltants in Somalia, and freed Saturday, returned to Italy Sunday and was greeted by relatives, Premier Giuseppe Conte and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
The Milanese Romano, 23, converted to Islam during her captivity by the Al Shabaab Islamist militant group and wore traditional Somali Muslim garb as she spoke to reporters wearing a facemask and gloves.
"Luckily I'm well, physically and mentally, I'm really happy (to be back), now I just want to be with my family," she said, revealing that her new name was Aisha.
Quizzed by prosecutors she reportedly said "I was moved often, always with the same captors (in Somalia), there was no marriage or relationships, just respect".
She reportedly said she converted to Islam of her own free will.
"The first month was the most terrible, I cried all the time," she said.
Romano said she was handed over to Al Shabaab by and eight-strong armed commando that abducted her from a mall in Kenya in November 2018.
Di Maio said Monday: "Silvia is a young woman who lived 18 months of imprisonment, First in Kenya. Then in Somalia. At just 23 years of age. Thanks to the work of women and men of the State, she is now back in Italy again, in the arms of her family.
"And that is the only thing that counts. That intense, infinite, true, and moving embrace between Silvia and her father, mother and sister moved everybody.
"Silvia is alive, she is well. Now, please, a bit of respect".
It was revealed Monday that Romano's 'prison diary' had remained in her captors' hands.
Romano travelled back to her working class district in Milan later Monday, where she got a joyful and raucous reception.
She said only three words upon getting home, when asked if she would return to Kenya: "Respect this moment".
Lilian Sora, founder of the Africa Milele charity Romano worked for, said "I never stopped investigating all the time Silvia was abducted. I discovered that she was being watched: I suspect that some members of the command slept close to our home before the kidnapping".
Sora added that "Silvia was not sent to (the Kenyan town of) Chakama on her own on November 5 as someone people have said, she became one of our aid workers and left with two other volunteers. And my partner was waiting for her, who is the charity's chief in Kenya, as well as another security worker, both Masai.
"The two volunteers were supposed to return on November 19 and Silvia was supposed to go to Malindi (18 km away) with them to greet the new people who, however, put the trip back by two days because they had found a cheaper flight.
"That's why Silvia remained in Chakama alone. On the 20th she was kidnapped".
The president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community (COREIS), Milan imam Yahya Pallavicini, said some criticism of Romano's conversion to Islam smacked of "an Inquisition tribunal".
The president of the Italian Bishiops Conference, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, said "we all, in this moment, feel that she is our daughter, a daughter who has run huge risks, who has had courage and strength of mind".
Somalia's prosecutor general opened a probe into the case on Monday.
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