Results tagged “New_York_Times” from SpyTalk

Times Was Prepared to Pay Ransom for Rohde

By Jeff Stein | June 20, 2009 6:59 PM | | Comments (0)

The New York Times was prepared to pay Taliban kidnappers a $5 million ransom to free its reporter David S. Rohde, who escaped Friday after seven months of captivity, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case.

Over months of secret contacts with Rohde's captors preceding his escape, The New York Times accepted the prospect of paying the ransom to free Rohde, said the source, who was involved in the hunt for Rohde. The source insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

Bill Keller, the executive editor of the Times, refused to comment Saturday on the circumstances that led to Rohde's release, but said, "We paid no ransom."

Tags: abduction, Afghanistan, AIG, CIA, Clayton_Consulatnts, counterrerrorism, David_Rohde, FBI, kidnapping, New_York_Times, Pakistan, ransom, Sirajuddin_Haqqani, Tahir_Ludin, Triple_Canopy

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Osama Bin Elvis

By Jeff Stein | March 17, 2009 12:27 PM | | Comments (0)

A story over the weekend pinpointing the location of Osama Bin Laden in Chitral, a remote, snow blanketed valley high up in Pakistan's side of the Hindu Kush, has triggered another round of speculation on the whereabouts of the fugitive terrorist chief.

Tags: American_Spectator, Bin_Laden, Chitral, CIA, counterterrorism, Elvis, Hindu_Kush, James_Gordon_Meek, Michael_Scheuer, New_York_Daily_News, New_York_Times, terrororism

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Obama Muses on a Difficult Rendition Situation

By Jeff Stein | March 9, 2009 3:16 PM | | Comments (2)

Lost in the weekend hubbub over President Obama's judgment that the U.S. and NATO forces were losing the war in Afghanistan was his interesting remark on renditions.

In a New York Times interview aboard Air Force One, the president reaffirmed that the administration is reviewing the policy of renditions - the practice of capturing a terrorist suspect and "rendering" him (or her) to the United States or elsewhere for detention -- but he pondered out loud one particularly difficult situation:

Tags: Andrews_Air_Force_Base, CIA, Fawaz_Younis, FBI, interview, New_York_Times, Obama, Omnibus_Diplomatic_Security_And_Antiterrorism_Act, rendition

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