Canadian Journalist Detained by Taliban in Afghanistan, Colleagues Say
The Associated Press
Published: Nov 27, 2001
MONTREAL (AP) - A Canadian free-lance reporter was detained Tuesday in Taliban-held territory of Afghanistan, according to the editor of the weekly newspaper for which he writes.
Alastair Sutherland, the Montreal Mirror editor, said reporter Ken Hechtman was taken prisoner near Kandahar, the last stronghold of the Islamic militia. Associated Editor Matthew Hays said correspondents from USA Today and the London-based Guardian newspaper informed the Mirror of Hechtman's detention.
Initial reports indicated Hechtman was held by the Taliban, but Sutherland said later the identity of his captors was unclear.
"Someone received a note from him in prison. He's being held in chains," said Hays. "We don't know if anyone else has been taken prisoner from the press but obviously we're very alarmed and very concerned about this."
Hechtman's father, Peter, said he knew little about his son's situation.
"We're dealing with a very difficult situation and we would appreciate if you respect our privacy," he said.
According to Hays, the 33-year-old Hechtman has been in the region since early October. His most recent report for the Mirror, from Peshawar, Pakistan, appeared in the Nov. 22 edition. A Nov. 15 article was from Taliban-held territory in Afghanistan.
Francois Bugingo of Journalists Without Borders told Canada's RDI French-language television news network that Hechtman was "tied down to the ground and apparently he's been brutalized at least a couple of times."
"We're looking for a contact in order to negotiate his release," Bugingo said.
The Guardian said its reporter, Jonathan Steele, said a witness, Mohammed Zai, told him Hechtman was kidnapped in the border town of Spinboldak, but it was not clear by whom.
The newspaper said Hechtman is believed held in a windowless room, chained hand and foot. According to Steele, Zai said Hechtman was guarded by about 11 armed men. They wanted money and threatened to kill him, Zai told Steele.
USA Today confirmed Tuesday that a correspondent in Pakistan contacted the Montreal Mirror after receiving a note from Hechtman in prison. The USA today correspondent did not know why Hechtman was detained or where he was being held, the newspaper said.
Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for Canada's foreign affairs department, said Tuesday the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, had been asked to check the unconfirmed reports of Hechtman's detention.
Doiron also said he called Canadian news organizations on Monday night, before reports of Hechtman's detention surfaced, to warn of a Taliban plot to lure western journalists to Kandahar in order to hold them as hostages.
According to Doiron, the Taliban intended to trade the hostages for Taliban and al-Qaida war prisoners or kill them if U.S. bombing of Taliban positions continued.
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