Kidnapping shows weak governance in Afghanistan: journalist

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TOKYO, Sept. 7 Kyodo -
A Japanese freelance journalist, who returned to Japan on Monday after five
months of captivity in Afghanistan, said Tuesday he learned that his kidnappers
were members of a ''corrupt military clique'' and that his abduction
demonstrates the weak governance in the country.
Kosuke Tsuneoka, 41, who was released Saturday after going missing in
Afghanistan in late March, told a news conference at the Foreign
Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo that the Afghan government wrongly
claimed his abductors were Taliban insurgents.
Actually, he said, the armed faction was fighting against the Taliban.
Through talking with members of the military clique and civilians who took care
of him at private homes where was confined, Tsuneoka said, he found out that a
commander named Latib of the Hizb-i-Islami armed faction was very close to the
Afghan government.
''I don't think President (Hamid) Karzai was involved in this case in any way,
but the kidnapping occurred in an area where the control of his government was
weak,'' Tsuneoka said.
The journalist said he felt rank-and-file members of the armed faction and the
civilians admired the Taliban as they complained about the Karzai government,
praised insurgents who were fighting against the United States and were
critical of drones targeting the Taliban.
They believed that the United States and Karzai's security forces were
dispatching drones to spy on them, he added.
Tsuneoka said he communicated with his captors using rudimentary Persian as
they did not understand English.
The journalist said he managed to post English messages on his Twitter account
last Friday using the mobile phone of one of his captors who had no idea what
was written.
Since access to the international media is very limited in Afghanistan, local
people will never learn of Tsuneoka's claim that the armed faction commander
close to the Afghan government was responsible for his abduction.
He said he will seek criminal prosecution of the commander if Japanese police
begin an investigation into the kidnapping.
Tsuneoka said he is concerned about the future of Afghanistan as disparities in
wealth are expected to widen between Taliban-controlled and other areas.
Japan has pledged to offer up to $5 billion in aid over five years from 2009 to
the conflict-ravaged country, but the money is expected to be spent in
government-controlled areas. ''I'm afraid it could further intensify the
Taliban's hostility toward the government,'' he said.
The journalist said he would like to return to Afghanistan to report on the
withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country next year. But he noted that he has
to first make sure that he will not be involved in a similar incident in the
future.
==Kyodo
2010-09-08 00:05:59