The aid workers were freed by the Taliban militia as it fled from northern alliance rebels. Three U.S. special forces helicopters plucked the ex-captives from a field about 50 miles southwest of Kabul, the country's capital, which is now in rebel hands.

They were flown to Pakistan and seemed to be in good health, U.S. officials said.

The fate of the workers had been a key concern for the Bush administration since the beginning of the U.S.-backed assault on the Taliban, with President Bush making their freedom one of the early conditions for halting the attacks. Another major condition, still unfulfilled, requires handing Osama bin Laden over for trial.

The Taliban had apparently agreed to turn the aid workers over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, but fled instead as rebel troops advanced, leaving the workers unguarded.

A clearly exuberant President Bush said in a televised address that the Red Cross and "other people on the ground" aided the U.S. effort to rescue the eight, who had been locked in cells in a Kabul prison since Aug. 3. They were charged with trying to convert Muslims, an offense that can be punished by death under Taliban laws.

Two of the freed workers, Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry, were Americans, members of the Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas. Members of the church had gathered to monitor TV news about the captives when the announcement of their release was broadcast.

"The great thing I learned is that prayer works," said senior pastor Jimmy Seibert.

A Libyan agency, the Gadhafi Foundation for Charitable Organizations, claimed credit for aiding the release, saying that it had been negotiating with the Taliban for two months. Before the eight were freed, a spokesman for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said their release would come soon. Last year, Libya helped free 20 tourists and workers held by rebels in the Philippines.

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