The Kidnap Diaries

This programme contains some strong language

I'm in a hotel in Jalalabad.

The reason that I'm here is that the Taliban have invited me

to film their training camps.

I'm also hoping to meet Al-Qaeda,

more specifically, the people who trained the London bombers.

It's taken months to negotiate this access

and now it's finally happening.

We cross the border into Pakistan tomorrow,

er, into the tribal lands

and that'll be the point of no return.

After that, I'll be in the hands of the Taliban.

I'm in a hotel in Jalalabad.

Er, I'm in a hotel in Jalalabad.

This has taken months of negotiat...

Tomorrow we cross the border into Pakistan.

After that...

..I'm in the hands of the Taliban.

PHONE RINGS

-'Hello.

-Is Anabel there?

-'Hi. How's it going?

-Great.'

Really good.

The boys all right?

'The boys are fine.'

-Why? What's wrong?

-'Nothing.'

It's the last chance I'll have to call for a while.

Is he there?

You know he is.

So you can't talk, then?

I'm all talked out, Sean.

Well, give my love to the boys.

I'll do that.

Bye, then.

-'Daddy.

-Hiya.'

I've got something that I need to talk to you about.

I'm going to go away and make a film.

So, I'm not going to see you guys for a little while.

Will you be back for my birthday?

Wouldn't miss that, would I?

He's having a party.

LAUGHS I know. And I'm going to be there, I promise.

And I've got another promise I'm going to make.

After I've made this film, I'm going to stay at home

and I'm going to write a book,

which means that I get to see you guys every day.

Don't make promises you can't keep, Sean.

Shall we dance?

Come on.

Come on.

Well, we've been driving now for about three and a half hours.

There's no checkpoints on the road, no army, no police.

Er, we're in the tribal lands.

The most politically sensitive,

the most dangerous place in the world.

We can always turn back.

On a scoop like this, that's not an option, Sami.

-I know.

-What does Haji think?

He thinks we are both crazy.

SEAN LAUGHS

What could possibly go wrong?

Come on, you got to love it.

Erm.

We are waiting for a Taliban contact for the training camps.

Er, the Pakistan government have always denied the existence

of these camps, but young Muslims,

born and educated in Britain, go there.

And that's what we're going to try and prove.

That the tribal lands are a safe haven for terrorists.

This waiting's the worst part.

They're worried that...

..I might be part of an ambush.

And I'm worried...

Well, I'm worried about a lot of things.

Sean.

They are here.

THEY SPEAK IN PASHTO

As-salaam alaikum.

Turn camera off, Sean.

Give me your passport and phone.

You speak English.

Passport and phone.

There you go.

Who's that guy?

Is he Taliban? Dressed like that?

SPEAKS IN PASHTO

I have to go, it's OK, it's OK.

Where are you taking Sami?

You travel separately for your own safety and for our safety, OK?

What about our driver?

You don't need him anymore.

From here, pilgrim, we walk.

Do you mind?

No, I understand.

Get going, pilgrim.

Sit down.

As-salaam alaikum. Thank you.

Tell me why you are here.

Oh, well, I have a letter of introduction from Mullah Aleifa.

Tell me why you are here.

Well, I think it's important that the world hears from the Taliban,

that the world understands the Taliban point of view.

The Taliban welcome foreign journalists.

We want the world to know we are fighting for our rights.

There can only be one winner. The Taliban. Do you know why?

We are not afraid of death.

Are you afraid to die, Mr Langan?

Er, yes.

We need to do some checking, we have to be very careful, you understand.

You can rest here tonight and maybe tomorrow, maybe in a few days,

you can visit our training camps and interview our leaders.

What would you like for breakfast?

Oh, er, boiled egg.

A boiled egg.

Bloody good stuff.

Good night, Mr Langan.

Erm.

Can I have my camera back?

No.

This way, pilgrim.

Well, thank you.

What's this?

This is progress, pilgrim.

Bed for the night, en suite bathroom, toilet, shower.

Erm, could you leave the flashlight?

What's the matter, pilgrim? Afraid of the dark?

All mod cons.

Where did you learn to speak English?

In England.

"Friday, March 28th. What a day.

"Taliban, guns, blindfolded, expecting a bullet in the head,

"but I'm here.

"Months of preparation and I'm finally here."

As-salaam alaikum.

SPEAKS IN PASHTO

Thank you.

"Saturday, March 29th.

"Locked in this room all day.

"There's no sign of Sami.

"I'm still hopeful everything will be OK,

"I'll be granted an interview and make a good film.

"I'm buoyed by the idea,

"being the first western hack to film the training camps."

Once upon a time, there was a fearless journalist,

a man so brave he would go where lesser journalists feared to tread.

Is that you, Daddy?

That's me, Gabriel.

DOOR IS UNLOCKED

Hey, Sami.

-Thank, fuck.

-Yeah.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, you?

-Yeah.

-Good.

What do you think?

I don't know, Sean. This does not feel right, you know.

They're just checking us out.

You think?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, of course.

-As-salaam alaikum.

-Salaam alaikum.

SPEAKS IN PASHTO

He wants to know if people in the West have sex with animals.

Even small animals.

He has seen a book about a Western women who marries a frog.

A frog?

Sean, I've also seen this book, a woman kissing a frog.

Was he wearing a little, gold crown on his little, green head

like a prince?

It's a fucking fairy story, Sami, it's not real.

Young British Muslims are being inspired by people like this,

who want Islamic rule over all the Earth.

Ask him, ask him if he's fighting Jihad cos he thinks we fuck frogs.

SEAN LAUGHS

SHOUTING

THEY SHOUT IN PASHTO

Don't worry about him, not your problem, he's a traitor.

You, we've not decided yet, there will be investigation.

Then we decide.

I think we have a problem.

Argh.

Shit.

What is the matter?

Do you know what, Sami?

I've stayed in a lot nicer places.

Look on the bright side, Sean,

if the Taliban cut off your head, you'll be world famous.

You could get an award named after you.

The Sean Langan award for stupid bravery,

a legend in his own autofocus.

Everybody dies.

Why go looking for it?

DOOR IS UNLOCKED

So, my friend, sit, sit.

You, sit down.

Ah.

How are you, my friend?

Ah, well, I've been better.

Look what I brought you.

A radio.

BBC World Service, make you feel at home.

Iranian toffees.

Toilet rolls. Should make you feel more bloody comfortable, yes?

Erm.

How long?

Few days, few days more.

Why the delay?

Read this.

Shampoo.

Toothbrush.

Read the questions, write down your answers, I will read your answers.

Then we shall see.

Tomorrow.

What is it, Sami? What is it?

We are under arrest.

Charged with spying for foreign enemy government.

By order of the Taliban.

We've been kidnapped.

No, Sean.

We are dead.

You work for British intelligence.

No.

I work for a British television company called Channel 4.

You admit contact with British and American military forces.

Well, I'm a journalist, that's my job.

You admit contact with government agents and Afghan national police.

Look, I've got nothing to hide.

You can see my films on the Internet, anybody can.

This question you have left blank.

The names of your children.

What are the names of your children?

I'm not telling you the names of my children.

You must answer all of the questions.

I'm not dragging my children into this dark business.

Answer the question!

No.

If you do not answer the question, he'll be forced to shoot you!

Tell him, Sean. What does it matter?

It matters to me.

-You have five seconds to answer the question!

-Sean.

-Four seconds.

-Please.

-Three seconds.

-Sean, tell him.

You are prepared to die for this, huh?

And I thought you were intelligent.

My children don't belong here.

If you refuse to answer the question,

he'll be forced to shoot him.

This is no place for my children.

This is out of my hands.

He means it, Sean, tell him.

All right.

You want to know the names of my children?

My five-year-old son is called Luke

and my three-year-old son is called Gabriel.

Luke and Gabriel.

SPEAKS IN PASHTO

Satisfied?

The Shura will consider your answers and reach a verdict.

Until then, you are a guest of Gul Jan.

We've got to get out.

They are going to kill us.

We've got to get out.

If we can get to Peshawar,

if we can do that, I know a guy who can get us to Kunar.

And once we get to Kunar, we should be safe.

If we can only get to Peshawar.

Look, that's great, Sami, but we've got to get out of the room first.

We kill the guard.

-When he come bring food, we kill the bastard.

-OK.

How do you propose we kill the bastard?

The lamp.

You hit him with the lamp, you smash glass in his eye.

I get his knife, slit his throat.

OK.

Then what?

We're in the most dangerous place in the world,

surrounded by the Taliban.

Or we wait here to die like a dog.

I'm not a violent man, Sami.

Then, we are already dead.

No. We have to try and talk our way out.

Get Gul Jan on our side.

I think he's a decent man.

If we can convince him to let us make a phone call,

that's our hope.

I want to be buried in my own clothes.

Oh, come on.

Come on, Sami.

I can't do this without you.

"Friday, April 4th.

"I'm writing this journal for my children,

"I think about my children all of the time.

"My biggest fear isn't dying, my biggest fear is dying in the dark.

"We keep the light burning.

"If they come in the night to slit my throat,

"I want to see them coming."

As-salaam alaikum.

It's all right, Sami, room service.

Come on, Sami. You got to eat.

You know, Sami, in America on death row,

they let you choose whatever you want to eat before they kill you.

You can have anything you like.

What would you have, Sami?

A lamb kebab.

You can have anything you like.

Your last meal on Earth.

I'd have...

..oysters on ice with lemon juice and Tabasco...

..and caviar and blinis and sour cream.

And lobster.

And I'd wash it all down with a nice, chilled Chablis.

I like lamb kebab.

"Sunday, April 6th.

"Gabriel's birthday.

"Day of despair.

"What'll he think?

"What'll he think when I don't even call?

"Will he think I don't love him anymore?"

Once upon a time,

there was a fearless journalist who flew too close to the sun

and, just like Icarus, he crashed...

'Crashed.'

And he burned.

And fell to Earth.

It's Gul Jan, Sami. This is it.

-What do you want to do?

-Er, talk to him, win him over.

-As-salaam alaikum.

-Wa alaikum assalaam.

Thank you.

Er, please, Gul Jan, please, sit down, join us.

Gul Jan, this is very good.

Gul Jan,

I know I'm an uninvited guest in your house.

You know I don't want to be here.

I know you don't want me here.

The Taliban have done this to us.

They've taken my camera and my liberty and my dignity.

But I don't care.

All I want to do now is survive.

I've seen you, Gul Jan, with your children, your children.

CHILD LAUGHS

All I want to do now is to see my children.

Can you, can you tell him, please, Sami?

SAMI TRANSLATES

He says he is sorry.

From my uncle Gul Jan.

Thank you.

My name's Aqil, I'm learning English.

My uncle says do you play chess?

Ah-ha.

"And behold a pale horse

"And his name that rode upon him was Death.

"And hell and fury followed after him."

You like music?

Yes, everybody likes music.

Not the Taliban. They banned music.

Well, they also banned chess.

My uncle's not the Taliban, he's a good man, he wants you to know this.

Well, then why is he keeping us here?

It's not my uncle's choice.

"Thursday, May 8th.

"This morning under the shower, I had the irrational fear

"that if the soap runs out, my life runs out."

HE SPEAKS IN PASHTO

"Friday, May 9th.

"Thinking of Anabel all day."

Stay here with me, get a job in London.

Help me bring up your children, our children.

When's Daddy coming back home?

You knew what my work was before you married me, Anabel, you knew that.

When he's finished his work.

You know Daddy, he needs to do his work.

You go off to some war and come back completely screwed up

and then you go out every night getting wasted.

Well, that's just stress.

I'm stressed too, Sean.

I'm sick of being on my own.

'The most precious thing I ever had, I blew it.

'Just threw it away.'

I'm actually surprised she stayed around as long as she did.

You love her still.

We have one final question.

-Mullah Aleifa give you this letter, yes?

-Yes.

An invitation to film our training camps.

-And that's what I thought.

-Hmm.

This letter is worthless, Mullah Aleifa is under arrest,

suspected of being a spy.

What is your connection with Mullah Aleifa?

I interviewed him for a film once.

Hmm. A good cover for a spy.

I'm a journalist.

That is up to the Shura to decide.

And another thing,

the Shura wanted you moved to the caves,

for you, Sean, certain bloody death and I said no.

I said no, Sean.

And, for that, you should be bloody grateful.

One more thing,

it was a mistake to ask you about your children,

I've been told by the Shura to apologise.

But let me show you something.

I'm a father like you, Sean,

I understand the innocence of children.

Is this is your son?

Not my son, no.

This child is in paradise.

You do not believe that.

And yet, you believe the Americans landed a man on the moon.

Now, that is propaganda, my friend.

American propaganda.

GUL JAN LAUGHS

'Don't make promises you can't keep, Sean.'

"Sunday, 18th May.

"I feel like a drowning man.

"I see my life

"flash before me.

"And I can slow it down.

"It's like walking into a library that's been closed for years."

'Watford one, Birmingham City one.'

"Full of cobwebs."

'Blackpool two, Millwall three.'

"My own personal archive."

-Hello.

-Anabel.

I'm Matthew Kane, I work in crisis management,

I've been retained by Channel 4.

Sean was last seen in Jalalabad five weeks ago.

We know he crossed the boarder into Pakistan but since then, nothing.

The most likely scenario is kidnap,

the most likely kidnappers are the Taliban.

Sean named you his next of kin.

I'm not his next of kin, we're divorced.

I know, but that's what he's done.

And that makes you the primary decision maker.

What am I going to tell the kids?

'Once upon a time, there was a fearless journalist.

'A man so brave he would risk his life

'in pursuit of truth and understanding.'

"Wednesday, 21st May.

"Sami is falling apart.

"All he does is sleep and pray and read the Qur'an."

Show me your faith.

"He doesn't eat, he doesn't speak, he doesn't wash."

If you had any, you'd get up now.

You're all the same.

You, the Taliban,

you're a bunch of hypocrites.

It's a sham.

Where's your faith?

Now, come on!

HE SPEAKS IN PASHTO

Stop shouting. He said the Taliban will come and kill us.

Let the Taliban come, I'd rather they took us away

and killed us now than watch you lie there and rot in your own shit.

Fight, fight back!

SPEAKS PASHTO

I've had enough of this bullshit, I want to be tried now.

I want this over and done with!

Please, Sean keep your voice down!

Right, I'll stop shouting,

if you promise me you'll fight back.

You start washing, start eating, take some exercise,

promise me, Sami, promise me on your holy book or I'll shout

until I get us both killed, because I don't care anymore.

Please!

SAMI LAUGHS

What were you dreaming about? You were laughing.

Sometimes I laugh. Sometimes I cry.

You know, I'm glad that you are here with me, Sean.

Wish I wasn't.

I mean, I'm glad I'm not here alone.

Yeah, I know.

You wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for me.

My fault.

As-salaam alaikum.

Who the hell was that?

THEY SPEAK PASHTO

What's going on, Sami?

They are arguing about taking us to the caves.

Gul Jan is saying no.

You outside. No, you stay.

Gul Jan forced our demands.

What demands?

You want me to hold that for you?

Thank you.

These dema...

Yeah, it's Sean Langan for Kevin Sutcliffe,

and can you tell him it's very urgent.

Hi Kevin, er, I've been kidnapped, it's the Taliban, Kevin.

I've got a Commander standing next to me with an AK47,

Um, they've told me to tell you that

they're treating me very well and I'm still alive.

These are their demands,

and please do everything they say or they're going to kill me.

And they will kill me and if they kill me it's all your fault.

They want money.

-PHONE RINGS

-Hello.

'Anabel, it's Matthew Kane, they've made contact, Sean's alive.'

Is he going to be all right?

We hope so.

You hope so.

In a hostage situation you can never tell.

'One thing that could happen is they get Sean to ring you

'or Channel 4 direct. It's a kidnap strategy.'

Don't take the call.

If you don't recognise the number, don't answer the phone.

OK. Then what, what happens next?

'You have to hope for the best, Anabel.'

If you want to see Sean Langan alive, we want 2 million.

'They haven't got 2 million'.

That is our price.

I have seen this before.

The Taliban ransom foreign journalist...

and kill the Afghan.

I promise you this, I'm not leaving here without you,

we either go together or we don't go at all.

2 million or Sean Langan is a dead man.

Listen, you have to be realistic.

Two million is not realistic, you should know that.

So let's negotiate.

This is not negotiable.

This does not look good, Sean.

Sean Langan is a dead man!

This is deliberate, this will all be over in a few days,

one way or another!

Do you know what this is about, Sami? The Americans, the British,

the Pakistan, they know we're here.

The Taliban, they pick us up, they bring us here,

they don't know what to do with us.

Sami.

What's all that about?

A phone.

Gul Jan says we should ring our families.

What is this?

What, United Airlines 93 - say goodbye to your loved ones?

You first, Sean.

-ANSWWERPHONE:

-'Hi, this is Anabel,

'please leave a message after the tone, thanks, bye.'

Hello, Anabel... Um, they've let me call you.

I just wanted to let you know that I've been...

I've been thinking about you all so much.

I feel very close to you out here.

Now, I don't want to scare you,

but I might not get the chance to tell you how much I love you.

'Please never stop telling our boys how much their daddy loved them.

'I love you all so very much.

'And I'm sorry.

'Goodbye.'

We will take 1 million.

You want us to kill him, huh?

Is that what you want?! We will kill him!

Good news, Sean, the Shura have found you innocent.

They decided you really are a journalist, not a spy.

Sign here that you accept the verdict.

Er, how do I know that this isn't a confession?

You don't trust me? You disappoint me, Sean.

It's OK, "not guilty."

Then the Shura took a vote on whether or not to kill you anyway.

To make an example.

I want you to know, Sean, I voted against.

But it was not enough.

I'm sorry, Sean, the Shura voted to kill you.

But...

the vote was overruled by Mullah.

You get to live, Sean! Bloody good news, yes?!

As for you Mr Vixen, not so good. Guilty as charged.

But...

the Shura voted to let you live. You get to fix another day.

HE LAUGHS

So you're both going home. Get ready. You leave separately.

No, I'm not going without Sami.

I said you leave separately.

And I said we go together or we don't go at all.

HE SPEAKS PASHTO

It's OK, Sean. Gul Jan will make sure I get home.

Let's go, put this on.

You got to be joking, right?

You want to be kidnapped again?

Hurry up, put it on.

Try and sit like a woman.

Hello, pilgrim.

I shall miss you, Sean.

I think of you now as a friend.

If you want to come back and make another film,

I can open many doors.

I won't be coming back.

When the Shura wanted to kill you Sean, I argued for your life.

I have a cousin in London.

Here.

Pashtun Pantry.

Bloody good food.

It would be nice if you send me something, Sean.

You can give it to my cousin.

American dollars will be best.

100 a month would be a big help to me and my family.

Well, Sean, it is nearly all over for you.

God speed, pilgrim.

HE LAUGHS

Welcome back, Sean.

Hot shower, few drinks, sound good?

I just want to go home.

OK, go.

I just want to go home.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd