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Times Reporter Planned Escape for Weeks

Newspaper was prepared to pay $5M ransom to Taliban

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 22, 2009 5:50 AM CDT
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(Newser) – David Rohde escaped from the Taliban only after weeks of planning, taking advantage of a length of rope to aid his descent down a 20-foot wall, the New York Times reports. The journalist and his Afghan colleague waited until a night when the city had electrical power, so the sound of their falls would be muffled by whirring air conditioners.

The two journalists walked 15 minutes to a Pakistani militia point, where they were stripped at gunpoint before being transferred to Islamabad. The reporters say they planned their escape after growing despondent that their captors were not negotiating. But a source told CQPolitics that the Times' insurers, AIG, were ready to bribe the guards, and that their escape story "sounded fishy." The Times was reportedly ready to pay a $5 million ransom.

This Nov. 10, 1995 file photo shows New York Times reporter David Rohde at Boston's Logan Airport.
This Nov. 10, 1995 file photo shows New York Times reporter David Rohde at Boston's Logan Airport.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
New York Times reporter David Rohde interviews Afghans in Helmand province in 2007.
New York Times reporter David Rohde interviews Afghans in Helmand province in 2007.   (AP Photo/The New York Times, Tomas Munita)
Canadian soldiers patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sunday, June 21, 2009.
Canadian soldiers patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sunday, June 21, 2009.   (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)
An Afghan woman carries watermelons and mangoes in the city of Jalalabad the provincial capital of Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, June 21, 2009.
An Afghan woman carries watermelons and mangoes in the city of Jalalabad the provincial capital of Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, June 21, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
ack
Jun 22, 2009 12:56 PM CDT
He looks like the consummate geek... but I bet Schwarzenegger plays him in the movie. "Edit this, asshole!" [blam blam blam]

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Media • World

 
Afghanistan • Taliban • Pakistan • New York Times • Islamic militants • ransom • hostage • David Rohde

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