Three journalists for the Guardian were released unharmed on Wednesday after being kidnapped last week by an armed gang in a rugged and remote part of eastern Afghanistan, the newspaper said.
The journalists, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who is Iraqi, and two Afghan colleagues, had spent six days in cold and snowy conditions surviving on soup, tea and bread, the Guardian said.
It credited efforts by representatives and intermediaries in Afghanistan but did not release details, including the names of the two Afghans, to “avoid compromising the security of those involved, particularly those remaining in Afghanistan.”
The three were described as “exhausted but in good spirits.”
The men had traveled to Kunar Province, along the border with Pakistan, to interview militants. After last hearing from Abdul-Ahad on Dec. 9, the Guardian said, it was informed two days later that the men had been kidnapped.
Following the practice of other news organizations whose reporters have been kidnapped during the prolonged conflict in Afghanistan, including the New York Times, the Guardian withheld disclosure of the abductions while efforts to secure the release of the three were under way.
In a statement on Wednesday, the paper said: “The Guardian has a comprehensive emergency plan to deal with such incidents, which was enacted immediately in both London and Kabul. As part of this plan, the paper engaged professional advisers in the U.K. and Afghanistan to assist in securing the individuals’ release. The Guardian will offer full support to all three men in terms of dealing with issues arising from their kidnapping.”
Editor in chief Alan Rusbridger, said the paper was delighted the situation has been resolved relatively quickly and that the men are safe.
“While we can’t name them, we would like to thank some particularly brave Afghan colleagues who went to extraordinary lengths to help secure their release,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have announced they will release a new video of a US soldier captured in Afghanistan, a US-based terrorism-tracking organization said.
SITE Intelligence Group said the media arm of the Afghan Taliban made the announcement Wednesday on their Web site.
The Taliban did not name the American.
The only US soldier known to be in captivity is Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who was captured June 30 in Paktika Province near the Pakistan border.
His Taliban captors released a propaganda video of the 23-year-old about two weeks later, in which Bergdahl appeared downcast and frightened.
In related news, the US ambassador to Kabul said yesterday that no deadline exists for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan and recommitted the US to helping build the capacity and competence of Afghan security forces.
US forces would begin a “gradual and responsible transition” in July 2011 conditional on the readiness of Afghanistan’s own police and army to take over the security of their war-battered country, Karl Eikenberry said.
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