Two very lucky guys right here.
usually the Taliban prefers to kill its captures, but after more tan a year these guys were let go.
I say NATO should Bomb some Taliban just for good measure.
The New York Times
PARIS — Two French journalists who had been held hostage in Afghanistan arrived in France on Thursday, after 547 days in captivity.
The reporters, Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, were freed on Wednesday along with their interpreter, Reza Din. All three men appear to be in good health.
“It’s lovely to be back,” Mr. Ghesquière told French television, shortly after he and Mr. Taponier were reunited with their families at the Villacoublay air base near Paris.
After one of France’s longest hostage ordeals, President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement Wednesday afternoon thanking “everyone who participated in freeing the hostages.” He also expressed gratitude to his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, for his help in the situation.
Both seasoned war reporters, Mr. Ghesquière, 47, and Mr. Taponier, his 46-year-old cameraman, were kidnapped by Taliban militants on Dec. 30, 2009, while reporting on a story on reconstruction of a road east of Kabul for France 3 television. Their captors had apparently made several demands in exchange for their release, though it was unclear Wednesday what those demands had been and whether any of them had been met.
News of their release was the first public sign of them since a November 2010 video.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
2 Journalists Freed by Taliban Return to France
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Media killings, deaths hit 132 in 2009, report says
Not a good year to be a journalist , Especially in a third world Country !
GENEVA (Reuters) - The Philippines, Mexico, Somalia and Russia were the most dangerous countries for journalists in 2009, a global media group reported on Wednesday.
A total of 132 journalists and support staff were killed or died while working last year, the International News Safety Institute, INSI, said.
Just three international reporters were among those deliberately targeted, the dead being overwhelmingly local journalists covering dangerous stories like high-level crime and corruption for national news media.
The Brussels-based INSI, which monitors statistics from around the world, said 98 of the dead were murdered because of their reporting activities.
"Journalists continue to die because they dare to shine a light on the darkest corners of societies. This is the shocking price we pay for our news," INSI Director Rodney Pinder said in a statement released in Geneva with the body's annual figures.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
China denies two US reporters were seized in China
From Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) - China rejected on Thursday claims by two U.S. journalists that they were seized on Chinese territory before being dragged into North Korea and jailed there for illegal entry into the reclusive state.I trust the journalists more then the Chinese, and that says a lot.
The journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee said in an article in the Los Angeles Times (http:/link.reuters.com/cug44d) that they strayed into North Korean territory in March when visiting a frozen river that marked the border with China.
They said they rushed back to the Chinese side but North Korean guards chased them and dragged them into North Korea.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu rejected their account.
"According to the understanding of the relevant (Chinese) departments, they did not find the situation as you described it," she told reporters in answer to a question about the two U.S. journalists' account.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
North Korea frees two U.S. journalists after Clinton trip
"Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it.
Nicely done Bill , Glad to see these two out of prison !
And all done in a timely fashion , maybe Mr. Clinton will get talks going again !
I guess all it takes is for a High profile American to go there And Dis the United States !
....
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea released two jailed American journalists on Tuesday after a visit from former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the highest-level U.S. contact with Pyongyang since Clinton was president nearly a decade ago.
North Korea's KCNA news agency said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had issued a "special pardon" to the two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of U.S. media outlet Current TV, which was co-founded by Clinton's vice president, Al Gore.
The two journalists were arrested on the North Korea-China border in March and accused of illegal entry. A North Korean court sentenced both of them last month to 12 years of hard labor for what it called grave crimes.
There were immediate questions about what Clinton had discussed with Kim beyond the fate of the two reporters during a visit that gave Kim what he craved -- direct U.S. attention and a visit from a highly placed emissary.
The news agency insisted that Clinton "courteously conveyed a verbal message of U.S. President Barack Obama expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries."
The White House had denied that Clinton carried any sort of message from Obama, but Obama officials otherwise remained silent while awaiting the diplomatic negotiations to unfold.
Monday, June 8, 2009
North Korea jails U.S. journalists, warns U.N
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea, facing U.N. sanctions for last
month's nuclear test, on Monday raised the stakes in its growing
confrontation with Washington by jailing two U.S. journalists to 12
years hard labor for "grave crime."
The sentence follows U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's warning on
Sunday the United States was considering putting the reclusive North
back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism, which would further
isolate the impoverished country.
The journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV,
were arrested in March working on a story near the border between North
Korea and China. The trial for the two, working for the company
co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, opened on Thursday.
"The trial confirmed the grave crime they committed against the Korean
nation and their illegal border crossing as they had already been
indicted and sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through
labor," the official KCNA news agency said in a brief dispatch.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
North Korea puts two U.S. journalists on trial
If no one intervenes , Lee and Ling , will be facing 10 years of hard labor !
....
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea put two U.S. journalists on trial on Thursday on charges of illegally entering the state with "hostile intent," in a case that could worsen tension with Washington after Pyongyang's nuclear test last week.
The journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of the U.S. media outlet Current TV, were arrested in March near the border between China and North Korea while working on a story. The TV network was co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
North Korea's KCNA news agency said in a one-sentence dispatch that the trial would begin at 2:00 a.m. EDT (3 p.m. local time) at one of the country's highest courts.
Experts say the pair could face a sentence of 10 years or more of hard labor in the reclusive state. They add a guilty verdict is almost certain in a North Korean justice system that protects the unquestioned rule of leader Kim Jong-il.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
North Korea to put 2 US journalists on trial
North Korea has announced that it put US journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling on trial on June 4th. North Korea accuses the journalists of illegally entering the country with "hostile" intenet. Reuters
SEOUL, May 14 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would put two U.S. journalists it arrested in March on trial on June 4, ratcheting up tension with Washington after a rocket launch and a threat to conduct a nuclear test.
Analysts said the reclusive North sees the two reporters as bargaining chips to try to win concessions out of the government of U.S. President Barack Obama, which is pressing Pyongyang to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks. [ID:nT37605]
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were arrested along the North Korea-China border. They were accused of illegally entering North Korea with "hostile" intent and Pyongyang has said they face criminal charges.
"The Central Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) decided to try the American journalists on June 4 according to the indictment of the competent organ," the official KCNA news agency said in a one-sentence dispatch.
Friday, April 24, 2009
North Korea to Charge US Journalists
This does not sound good at all , 10 years in a forced labor camp ?
Maybe it is just another ploy by North Korea to get a rise out of the U.S. ,
VOA....
State media in North Korea said Friday that investigators have completed the questioning of two detained U.S. journalists and will bring formal charges against them.
The Korean Central News Agency said the two will stand trial based on their crimes, but it did not give specifics of the charges.
Reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling of the San Francisco-based Current TV were detained on March 17 while reporting on North Korean refugees in China.
North Korea has accused them of entering the country illegally.
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the North Korean government for treating the women as criminals for "simply doing their jobs."
The Paris-based media group says it has gathered the signatures of more than 1,100 journalists and Internet bloggers in support of the two women, who could face up to 10 years of forced labor if convicted.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
North Korea to put U.S. journalists on trial
Between this and North Korea's missile launch I would expect the Obama administration to be pretty vocal. But not a peep from the White House about two US citizens who were kidnapped by North Korea.
North Korea claims the US journalists were carrying out "hostile acts", whatever that means probably anything the North Koreans want it to. Reuters
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it would put on trial two U.S. journalists arrested earlier this month on its border with China, accusing them of "hostile acts."[...]
The two women reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee from the U.S.-based media outlet Current TV, were arrested two weeks ago by the Tumen River, which runs along the east side of the border between North Korea and China.
"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK (North Korea) and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements, according to the results of intermediary investigation conducted by a competent organ of the DPRK," North Korea's KCNA news agency said.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
N.K. journalist update !
The two women "detained" by north Korea , work for an Online org. Current T.V. Network , co founded by none other than Former V.P Al Gore ! I'm sure once things cool down they will be released , Because Al Gore Couldn't be involved in anything That would show A communist country in a bad way ! That and he may threaten them with "Manbearpig"
....
North Korea guards detain U.S. journalists
There is not much being said on this right now , but the fact that soldiers from North korea crossed into Chinese territory to "Arrest" These two should be a big issue With the rest of the "Free" world . Don't look at the Commies ! Especially with a camera !
....
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean security officials have detained two Korean-American journalists who were filming across the Tumen River from the Chinese side of the border, South Korean television reported on Thursday.
The YTN channel quoted a South Korean government official as saying North Korean guards crossed the border into Chinese territory to arrest the two on Tuesday after they ignored warnings to stop filming.
It said the two women worked for an online news company based in California but gave no other details. South Korea's foreign ministry declined to confirm the report.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Beijing is investigating the report and declined to comment further.
YTN said a man was also with the pair from the same news organization but managed to escape.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Two Journalists Kidnapped by Terrorists in Talistan
Terrorists kidnapped a free lance writer and a photographer for alledgely secretly taking pictures. Let's hope the terrorists don't decide to chop off their heads. Reuters
....
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked militants have abducted two Pakistani journalists who the militants accused of snooping on their members and positions near the Afghan border.
The militants detained freelance reporter Pir Zubair Shah and photographer Akhtar Soomro in Ziarat village in the Mohmand region late on Thursday.
"We detained them because they were secretly taking pictures of our people and places. Now, our council will meet and decide what to do," Asad, a spokesman for Pakistani Taliban, said by telephone on Friday.Pakistani Taliban militants linked to al Qaeda have taken control of swathes of territory in northwestern Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun regions along the Afghan border, including parts of Mohmand.
Intermediaries were trying to get the reporters released, said a senior government officer.
"We're doing our best. We've sent a delegation of tribal elders to the kidnappers to get them released," said the official, who declined to be identified.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Pakistani Journalist Killed in Talistan
The journalist was gunned down after an interview with a taliban spokesman. Maybe the journalist knew too much? Reuters
KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a Pakistani journalist on Thursday in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border where al Qaeda linked militants have been known to operate, his company and residents said.
Mohammad Ibrahim, a reporter with the Express News private television channel, was attacked when returning from an interview with a spokesman for Pakistani Taliban militants, they said.
"He was on a motorcycle and the gunmen sprayed bullets at him just outside Khar. They took away his camera and bike," said another reporter in the area, Sahibazada Bahasuddin, referring to the region's main town.
The motive for the attack was not clear, though journalists working on the volatile Afghan border have faced violence from both militants and authorities, press freedom groups say.
