Rome – The drama of two young women volunteers kidnapped in Syria has caused increasing anxiety following the murder of journalist James Foley.

On Wednesday the Guardian newspaper suggested the two Italians, Vanessa Marzullo, aged 20, and Greta Ramelli, 21, who were abducted August 1 while working in the war-torn city of Aleppo, also are being held by Isis but the Italian foreign ministry denied the report.

On Thursday the London-based Arabic newspaper al Quds al Arabi reported instead that the young women are being held by a Syrian opposition group that has nothing to do with Isis and that they were “in good health” and likely to be released imminently. The al Arabi report quoted a source from the Syian rebel group Ahrar ash Sham, which has said it captured one of the kidnappers of the Italians.

The source identified the kidnapper as a “member of a Syrian opposition brigade,” and therefore not Isis, who was captured near Sarmada close to the border with Turkey in the region of Idlib. Al Arabi quoted him saying his group was “negotiating with Italian authorities to reach a deal on a ransom payment.” The Italian foreign ministry has slapped a news blackout on efforts to release the girls.

“we are optimistic and hope to be able to hug Vanessa and her friend Greta soon even though our anxiety is growing,” said Vanessa’s father Salvatore Marzullo.

 Italian intelligence agents also have been working for months to try and obtain the release of a Roman Catholic priest kidnapped in Syria in July last year, the Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio.

Contacts being used include intermediaries who helped secure the release of other Italians abducted in the Middle East recently including Domenico Quirico, a correspondent for La Stampa newspaper released last year after a lengthy ordeal in Syria, Italian foreign ministry sources say.