Afghanistan: The Mastrogiacomo Kidnapping as a Precedent

By Fred Burton

Taliban kidnappers released Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo this week after holding him since March 5 -- and threatening at one point to "slaughter" him if their demands were not met. Mastrogiacomo, who was in Afghanistan reporting for Italy's La Repubblica newspaper, was kidnapped along with his two Afghan guides in southern Helmand province. Both the Italians and Afghans deny any money was paid for Mastrogiacomo's release, although the Afghan government confirmed reports March 21 that it freed Taliban prisoners. This would seem to support earlier claims by Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah that the reporter was released in exchange for five Taliban prisoners, including Dadullah's own brother.

The case is important because it marks a clear departure from the Taliban's more common practice of quickly releasing kidnapped reporters. Dadullah, however, could have held on to Mastrogiacomo as a one-off operation -- perhaps because the Italian government has gained a reputation for negotiating with jihadists. Conversely, this case could mark a shift in tactics by the Taliban -- or at least Dadullah's faction -- to now hold and trade reporters. The Afghan government's release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for Mastrogiacomo, however, has set a precedent that will dramatically change the dynamic for foreigners operating in Afghanistan -- not just reporters.

Even if it this case was an anomaly for the Taliban, they are not the only armed players in Afghanistan who engage in abductions or have comrades or relatives in Afghan prisons. Therefore, reporters could now be seen as valuable commodities to be snatched and held in exchange for the release of prisoners. Ironically, the exchange that resulted in Mastrogiacomo's freedom could very well result in the abduction of other reporters and foreigners in Afghanistan. In effect, it has become a neon sign declaring open season on foreigners.

The Kidnapping

La Repubblica says it last heard from Mastrogiacomo on March 4, and the Taliban claim they abducted him March 5. Things got somewhat muddled at the beginning, when the Taliban claimed that Mastrogiacomo was a British citizen who had confessed to being a British spy. The Italian and British governments refuted the claims that he was a Briton or a spy, and press reports provided ample evidence that Mastrogiacomo was a legitimate journalist.

Things became even more confused March 9 when the Taliban issued conflicting statements to separate media outlets. In one statement, they said they would release Mastrogiacomo if he could prove he was not a spy. In another statement, released as a video, the Taliban threatened to kill Mastrogiacomo if Italy did not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The confusion sparked by these conflicting statements caused the Italian Foreign Ministry to request a news blackout on the story.

On March 10, the Italian ambassador said the Italian government was interested in negotiating for Mastrogiacomo's release and asked the Taliban to prove he remained alive. The same day, Dadullah, who told the media he was in charge of the militants holding Mastrogiacomo, said, "If our demands aren't met, we'll slaughter the journalist on the seventh day from today."

Four days later, the Taliban released a video of Mastrogiacomo, reportedly alongside Dadullah, to Emergency, an Italian nongovernmental organization in Afghanistan. In the short message, purportedly recorded March 12, Mastrogiacomo said, "I am okay. I am sure everything will turn out fine. Do everything you can, as I have just two days left."

On March 18, the Taliban announced they had released Mastrogiacomo into the custody of local tribal elders who were acting as mediators for the prisoner exchange. A day later, once the tribal elders verified the conditions had been met, they released Mastrogiacomo. Mastrogiacomo later told a press conference that one of his Afghan guides, Syed Agha, had been beheaded as the reporter watched. The second Afghan kidnapped with Mastrogiacomo, known only by the name Ajmal, reportedly remains in Taliban custody.

A Clear Departure

Kidnappings, carried out for both criminal and political reasons, are not new to Afghanistan or to the region. Indeed, like warfare, kidnapping has been a tool in inter-tribal politics for centuries. Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, many aid workers and other foreigners have been kidnapped for political purposes -- and in many cases they have been killed. Other times they are held and released after a ransom is paid.

The Taliban themselves have detained several journalists in southern Afghanistan in recent weeks, including an Al Jazeera crew led by British reporter James Bays, though these journalists were quickly released once it was determined they were legitimate reporters.

It is natural for the Taliban to be somewhat wary of reporters they do not know, especially after their al Qaeda confederates pretended to be journalists when they killed Ahmed Shah Masoud on Sept. 9, 2001. For the most part, however, the Taliban have been attempting to use the media to convey their message and have largely cooperated with the press since late 2006.

This latest kidnapping, then, represents a clear departure from the Taliban's earlier dealings with the press -- though it undoubtedly gave them a windfall of media coverage. From the start, it was obvious that Mastrogiacomo was not going to be released quickly, though there were other telltale signs that his abduction was going to be different from that of other journalists. For example, Dadullah said March 8, "We cannot accept that our men (referring to imprisoned Taliban spokesmen) are in prison and that Western journalists speak freely." This was an obvious signal that he wanted an exchange. In retrospect, it appears the March 14 tape also was a sign. It was clearly intended to pressure the Italian and Afghan governments, and also to signal that the Taliban truly wanted to make a deal rather than kill the reporter as their appointed deadline passed.

Regardless, it now must be determined whether the Mastrogiacomo abduction was an anomaly -- either a reaction to Mastrogiacomo's nationality or to the fate of Dadullah's brother -- or whether it marked the unveiling of a new Taliban policy.

An Italian Thing?

The Mastrogiacomo case is just the latest in a string of kidnappings of Italians in Iraq and Afghanistan. In one of the first cases, the Islamic Army in Iraq abducted and later killed journalist Enzo Baldoni in August 2002. Since then, the Italian government has been fairly open about its efforts to ransom captured Italian citizens. This could be one reason Dadullah chose to hold Mastrogiacomo rather than Bays, who was captured by the Taliban in February -- though Bays' employment at Al Jazeera also could have been a factor in the decision, since that network is viewed by many Muslims in a more favorable light than most Western media organizations.

Many of the abductions of Italians since Baldoni have ended with the hostage's release, often after a ransom payment. Photographer Gabriele Torsello, for example, was kidnapped and held near Kandahar for 23 days in October 2006. Torsello's abductors initially demanded that Italian troops pull out of Afghanistan and that the Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel Rahman, be released from a U.S. jail. When it became clear that those conditions could not be met, the Italian government eventually was able to negotiate and pay a ransom for Torsello's release. Although the Taliban denied involvement in the Torsello kidnapping, claiming it was carried out by a criminal group, the "criminals" did a good job of disguising their initial demand set, which was very close to the Taliban's position.

In May 2005, Clementina Cantoni, an Italian citizen working for CARE, was kidnapped in Kabul and held for more than three weeks before she was released without harm. The Italian government denied paying a ransom for her release. On Feb. 4, 2005, Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was kidnapped in Iraq. She was freed March 4 after a settlement was reached with her captors.

Reporters as Commodities

The bottom line in the Mastrogiacomo case is, rather than execute him -- as al Qaeda did Daniel Pearl in Pakistan -- the Taliban apparently decided not only to gain publicity and demonstrate their brutality by beheading one of his guides, but also to use him as a bargaining chip for the release of Taliban prisoners. In other words, the Taliban are demonstrating a degree of pragmatism that is not often displayed by al Qaeda.

Though it is possible this was a one-off operation intended merely to secure the freedom of Dadullah's brother, the possibility remains that the Taliban are shifting their tactics in a way that places reporters (and other foreigners) in greater peril than before. Though the Taliban have always been hostile to coalition forces in Afghanistan and Afghans who work for the Karzai government, they have had a tenuous modus vivendi with some foreign noncombatants living in the south, such as Emergency, whose Kandahar office helped negotiate with the Taliban for Mastrogiacomo's release.

The problem is, even if this is not the beginning of a larger Taliban strategy to commoditize foreigners, their actions have in effect already done this. Other actors at large in Afghanistan, including al Qaeda, non-Taliban jihadists, criminal groups and even the various tribes, could decide to follow Dadullah's lead in order to gain the freedom of their own colleagues or family members.

This means that reporters (and other Western noncombatants) have now become a valuable commodity in Afghanistan -- a "get out of jail free card" for jihadists or criminals. This is especially true of journalists, who at times live in a state of denial as to their own worth as a commodity, and hence their own vulnerability. With the upcoming combat season being billed as a big one, a plentiful supply of potential hostages undoubtedly will be in the region in the coming weeks. It is open season.