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Times Scribe Recounts Ordeal as 'Taliban Embed at Gunpoint'

Afghanis, negotiators angered by operation that killed Steven Farrell's interpreter

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 10, 2009 3:01 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Four days in the hands of the Taliban often felt more like a tour of insurgent territory than a hostage ordeal, writes rescued New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell. The militants struck his interpreter, Sultan Munadi, with a rifle when the two were seized, but did not mistreat them afterward—though Munadi was killed in the rescue. The militants moved them to safe houses in daylight, and appeared to have complete control, he notes. Farrell "felt like a military embed, except at gunpoint," he writes.

Afghan journalists are furious that Munadi's body was left behind while British commandos flew Farrell to safety, the Washington Post reports. "He died trying to help me, right up to the very last seconds of his life," writes Farrell. Hostage negotiators expressed shock and anger that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered the rescue when they were just days away from securing Farrell's release. The operation was "totally heavy-handed," a Western official told the Times of London.

Sultan Munadi, 34, who was working as an interpreter, was killed in a firefight early yesterday after he was abducted with Times reporter Stephen Farrell.
Sultan Munadi, 34, who was working as an interpreter, was killed in a firefight early yesterday after he was abducted with Times reporter Stephen Farrell.   (AP Photo/ The New York Times, Tyler Hicks)
Stephen Farrell, a reporter for The New York Times.is shown in Iraq on July 16, 2007. Commandos freed the New York Times reporter Wednesday Sept. 9, 2009, after he was kidnapped by militants in northern Afghanistan last week, the paper said.
Stephen Farrell, a reporter for The New York Times.is shown in Iraq on July 16, 2007. Commandos freed the New York Times reporter Wednesday Sept. 9, 2009, after he was kidnapped by militants in northern...   (AP Photo/Markko Geogiev for the New York Times)
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It became a tour of a Taliban-controlled district of Afghanistan, and that control appeared total. At no point did we see a single NATO soldier, Afghan policeman, soldier or any check to the Taliban’s ability to move at will. - Stephen Farrell

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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
Spudsy
Sep 10, 2009 7:59 AM CDT
You have to give this Farrell a lot of credit for trying to cover these wars. The blow dried heads on tv have long lost interest after getting their photo ops as embeds during the Iraq invasion. They were so eager to get the shots that they didn't bother to investigate the lies that led to the whole mess. Farrell has a pair.

 
Afghanistan • Taliban • New York Times • journalists killed • journalist • British military • Stephen Farrell • Sultan Munadi

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