Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl Appears in 28-Minute Video Released by Taliban Kidnappers
07/20/2009 6:27 PM ET
This is the full 28-minute video released Saturday, July 18, 2009 by the Taliban kidnappers of the U.S. Army Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, who was taken hostage June 30 in Afghanistan's Paktika province.
US Soldier Went Missing June 30 in SE Afghanistan, Believed in Taliban Hands
07/16/2009 1:26 PM ET
U.S. forces in Afghanistan's Ghazni and Paktia provinces are distributing leaflets calling for tips that would lead to the freedom of a U.S. soldier who went missing and who was believed kidnapped by the Taliban June 30.
An English translation of this Pashto-language leaflet: "One of our American guests is missing. Return the guest to his home. Call us at 070 769 4351."
Translation: "One of our American guests is missing."
Translation: "If you don't release the U.S. forces (soldier)..."
U.S., Afghan, and Pakistani sources tell AfPax Insider Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani was responsible for the kidnapping of New York Times correspondent David Rohde and that Haqqani demanded both a ransom of several million dollars and the release of Taliban imprisoned in Afghanistan.
Rohde and his local interpreter escaped to freedom in Pakistan yesterday, and no ransom was paid.
Months into Rohde's captivity, Haqqani, head of the Taliban's Haqqani Network, backed off his insistence that prisoners be freed and instead said he would accept the previously requested ransom payment of several million dollars, sources say.
The U.S. and Pakistani government months ago offered cash rewards for information leading to Haqqani's capture or killing, with the U.S.'s $5m bounty being issued in March while Rohde was in captivity.
Negotiations aimed at securing Rohde's release took place via multiple channels over several months, with extended periods of no contact between parties.
During that time, Haqqani's group released at least three videos of Rohde in captivity, including an 18-minute video purchased in Khost, Afghanistan February 6 by al Jazeera's Arabic-language TV network, which broadcast 20 seconds of the video that day before agreeing to appeals from the New York Times and others not to further show or report on the video.
That video was first offered by a Haqqani group agent to AfPax Insider and other news outlets on the condition that they agree to televise the video and pay for the tape -- demands rejected by AfPax Insider and al Jazeera's English-language TV network.
AfPax Insider sources say the Rohde video was shot in Miran Shah, the capital of the Pakistani border province of North Waziristan, where Rodhe was taken after being kidnapped last November in Afghanistan.
According to journalists who saw the video purchased by al Jazeera, Rohde appeared in at least one scene of the multi-part video to be frail and distraught, prompting outrage at the kidnappers among journalists who saw the video.
Pak. Taliban Treat Hostage for Broken Leg After One of Two Captives Escapes
11/13/2008 10:09 AM ET
Exclusive AfPax Insider report and photo gallery
A Chinese engineer held hostage by the Pakistani Taliban is recovering from a broken leg sustained during a mid-October escape attempt in which a second captive Chinese engineer fled to freedom.
AfPax Insider interviewed the hostage and one of his kidnappers a few days ago in Pakistani border area of Swat, where the two Chinese engineers were taken captive August 29.
The Pakistani Taliban kidnappers are demanding money and the release of imprisoned Pakistani Taliban in exchange for the release of the Chinese engineer.
In mid-October, when the two engineers attempted to escape their captors, one succeeded, while the other was injured and re-captured by the kidnappers.
AfPax Insider freeze frame image from video
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan explaining why the Chinese engineer remains in captivity.
Hostages Make Videotaped Appeal; Details of Kidnap Negotiations Emerge
10/08/2008 5:48 PM ET
An AfPax Insider exclusive: Photos, videos, and a Pakistani Taliban interview transcript are below
Two Chinese engineers kidnapped by Pakistani Taliban made a videotaped plea for their release this week as negotiations aimed at securing their freedom bogged down during their sixth week of captivity.
The kidnappers permitted an AfPax Insider team to meet and interview the hostages October 6 in the remote Pakistani Swat village of Piochar.
The Chinese engineers were kidnapped August 29.
This is only the second time the kidnappers have provided proof the Chinese hostages are alive and in apparently good health.
The AfPax Insider team emerged with six minutes of videotape of the hostages, all of which is posted below.
One of the hostages pleaded in English, "We want quickly go home, go to China." Both hostages spoke briefly in Chinese, as well.
One of the hostages was emotional and distressed, while the other at times smiled and laughed while being questioned by the AfPax Insider correspondent.
The Pakistani Taliban spokesman in Swat, Muslim Khan, told AfPax Insider in a September 26 on-camera interview that a prominent Pakistani journalist was negotiating on behalf of the Chinese and Pakistani governments in an effort to win the release of the captives. For the sake of not interfering with the negotiations, perhaps unduly prolonging the captivity of the hostages, AfPax Insider has chosen for now not to disclose the name of the Pakistani journalist intermediary in the negotiations.
Khan told AfPax Insider the kidnappers would prefer to deal directly with Chinese officials in negotiating the fate of the hostages, but the Chinese and Pakistani governments have insisted on negotiating through the Pakistani journalist intermediary.
The Muslim Khan interview and the transcript are posted below.
Pakistani Taliban tell AfPax Insider they have three demands for the release of the Chinese hostages, only one demand of which was disclosed: that Pakistani authorities free 136 militants detained in Swat and other parts of the North-West Frontier Province.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Khan told AfPax Insider the three demands were conveyed to the prominent Pakistani journalist intermediary September 23.
AfPax Insider sources in Swat say the Pakistani Taliban are also demanding money in exchange for the release of the hostages, although that's unconfirmed from Taliban and Pakistani government sources.
Posted below are freeze framer images from the two October 6 AfPax Insider videos of the Chinese hostages, the two videos, and a freeze frame and the video and transcript of the September 26 AfPax Insider interview with Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan.
AfPax Insider
In an interview with Afpax Insider, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan explains why the Chinese hostages have yet to be freed.
Here's an English-language translation of an excerpt of the Muslim Khan interview:
"We released (Pakistani) security personnel, with those we promised (to release). And those (Pakistani captives) who didn't resist were also allowed to go (free). The other five security persons, I think, (among them) one was police, were tried according to Shariah by Shura (Council) which fined them, after the fine was paid, they were also released. It was not a show of solidarity but to get the support of Allah. They (the Pakistani administration) have no sense of solidarity. I think (since) they even don't know what Month of Ramadan is (about), how they (administration) can respect the sacredness of it (Ramadan). About Chinese Engineers, Chinese embassy also approached us but, probably, the government pressured them and didn't allow them to meet us. Instead, it would be (better to talk with) their (Chinese) representative, (which could be Chinese) Ambassador or First Secretary, they (administration) have chosen (name withheld by AfPax Insider), as representative, he came and God willing negotiations are under way lets see what happens next."
)
)
)
)
)
)
