Rebels in East India Release Italian Hostage Maoist rebels on Thursday released an Italian tourist guide abducted more than a month ago from a remote forest area of eastern India after the state government agreed to release five rebels from prison. Paulo Basusco along with Italian tourist Claudio Colangelo was abducted on March 14 while on a trek in Orissa state. Colangelo was released 11 days later, but Basusco remained in captivity while negotiations took place between the rebels and the government. Basusco said he had been treated well by the rebels. I'm in good health. There's nothing to worry about. I love Orissa," he told journalists in Bhubaneshwar, the state capital. "The first thing I want to do is fly to Italy and meet my family," he said. Basusco, who has been living in India for more than 12 years, runs an adventure tourism bureau from the coastal town of Puri in Orissa. The rebels are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong and have been fighting in several Indian states for more than four decades demanding land and jobs for farmers and the poor. Police said the rebels held the men in a hideout deep in the jungles of the state's Kandhamal district. There was no word on the fate of a lawmaker from Orissa, who was abducted three weeks ago. The rebels have separately demanded the release of 30 of their imprisoned comrades for the lawmaker to be set free. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the insurgency India's biggest internal security threat. At least 2,000 police, militants, rebels and civilians have been killed in the conflict.