In the midst of these Iranian protests, some good news comes from the region as we learn that NY Times reporter, David Rohde, has escaped from Taliban captivity by scaling a wall and fleeing the compound where he was being held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan. Rohde was captured over seven months ago along with Tahir Ludin, a local journalist, and their driver, Asadullah Mangal, in the manner most journalists are taken in Pakistan when he believed he was going to a pre-arranged interview with a Taliban leader. Both Rohde and Ludin escaped today which is a happy ending to these cases which more often than not end in a graphic videotape of a beheading. Rohde was writing a book on American involvement in Afghanistan and his attempt to bring an international ear to the Taliban ended up in his own abduction. This is usually the reason for these abductions, remembering the tragic ending of WSJ reporter, Daniel Pearl, which brought much light to this commonplace occurance in the Pakistan/Afghanistan regions ruled by the brutal Taliban. After Rohde’s abduction, The Times kept very quiet about the kidnapping going as far as removing references to his work and personal life from the Internet in hopes that this would help aide his safe return.

(an arial view of the tribal region where Rohde was being held captive)