KABUL KIDNAPPING

Ex-Taliban Commander Brought to U.S. to Face Charges for Abducting NYT Journalist in 2008

Haji Najibullah allegedly held David Rohde and an Afghan journalist for seven months before the two made a daring escape.

A former Taliban commander has been arrested and charged with the kidnapping a former New York Times reporter, an Afghan journalist, and their driver in 2008. Haji Najibullah allegedly abducted and held the three men prisoner for more than seven months. David Rohde, the Times reporter, and Tahir Ludin, the Afghan writer, escaped in 2009 after plotting for weeks and using a rope to lower themselves down the 20-foot wall of the compound. The driver, Asadullah Mangal, did not escape. The three had been en route to an interview with another Taliban commander, who turned out to be Najibullah in disguise. Najibullah faces multiple life sentences in New York prison if convicted on the six counts of kidnapping, hostage taking, conspiracy and using a machine gun in furtherance of violent crimes.