Nearly 300 journalists urge release of abducted Afghan colleague


New York, April 5, 2007
—Nearly 300 journalists have signed an open letter urging the release of abducted Afghan journalist Ajmal Nakshbandi, who has been held captive by the Taliban since March 4. Those signing the letter represent an array of local and international news organizations, including CNN, The Associated Press, Reuters, Time, The New York Times, NBC, ABC, and Al-Jazeera.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which organized the campaign, first issued the letter on Monday. Additional signatures were submitted this week. Here is the text of the letter followed by all of the signatories:

We are writing to call attention to the case of Ajmal Nakshbandi, an Afghan freelance journalist who was abducted in Helmand province with La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo and driver Sayed Agha on March 4. Nakshbandi, a reporter in his own right, was serving as Mastrogiacomo’s translator. Agha was beheaded a few days after the three men were seized, and Mastrogiacomo was released on March 19, apparently in exchange for five senior Taliban leaders.

Only Nakshbandi remains captive, apparently held by the Taliban. His case has all but disappeared from Western media even as it draws extensive coverage in the Afghan press. As journalists who have worked closely with local reporters while covering war and conflict in many parts of the world, we are greatly concerned about Nakshbandi’s fate. He is admired as a first-rate reporter and knowledgeable colleague; his deep understanding of Afghanistan’s complexities earned him a reputation for even-handedness.

We join our Afghan colleagues in urging Nakshbandi’s captors to release him immediately.

Fisnik Abrashi
AP Correspondent, Kabul

Mustafah Abdulaziz
Photographer

Christiane Amanpour
Chief International Correspondent, CNN

Jon Anderson
Photographer

Terry Anderson
CPJ board member

Petr Antonov
Photographer

Aryn Baker
South Asia Correspondent, Time Magazine

Jeff Ballou
Deputy News Editor
Al-Jazeera English

Teresa Bo
Correspondent
Al-Jazeera English

Silvia Boarini
Photographer

Jaime R. Carrero
Photographer

Thomas Coghlan
Daily Telegraph

Ben Connors
Editor
Al-Jazeera English

Jim Cox
Foreign Editor, USA Today

Bernd Debusmann
Special Correspondent, Reuters

Bob Dietz
CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

Hector Emanuel
Photographer

Jim Erickson,
Time Asia, Hong Kong

Miguel Ribeiro Fernandes
Photographer

Walid el-Gabry
President, Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association

Carlotta Gall
New York Times, Islamabad/Kabul

Kathy Gannon
Associated Press

Ed Giles
Photographer

Stephen Graham
Pakistan Correspondent, Associated Press

Carol Grisanti
NBC News Islamabad/Kabul

Joe Harrison
Photographer

Camille El Hassani
Broadcast Producer
Al-Jazeera English

Pat Hattori
Photographer

Gayle Hegland
Photographer

Diane Hodges
Booker/Producer
Al-Jazeera English

Lisa Hogben
Photographer

Paul Holmes
Editor, Political & General News
Reuters

Neal Jackson
Photographer

Sebastian Junger
Journalist

Ali Riza Kutlu
Photographer

Srinivas Kuruganti
Photographer

Amy Marash
Video Journalist
Al-Jazeera English

David Marash
Al-Jazeera English
Washington, DC

Wendy Marijnissen
Photographer

Daniele Mattioli
Photographer

Jesse Mesner-Hage
Deputy News Editor
Al-Jazeera English

Omar Mullick
Photographer

Robert Nickelsberg
Photographer

Ian Olds
Documentary Filmmaker

Bernard Onderdonck
Photographer

Mark Orchard
Deputy News Editor
Al-Jazeera English

Warrick Page
Photographer

Kat Palasi
Photographer

Christian Parenti
The Nation

Matthew Pennington
AP Bureau Chief for Pakistan/Afghanistan

Gretchen Peters
ABC News

Betsy Reed
Executive Editor, The Nation

Markel Redondo
Photographer

Alex Reshuan
Photographer

Simon Robinson
Time Magazine
South Asia Bureau Chief

Jed Rothstein
Lumiere Productions

Florencia Saluzzo
Photographer

Mariana Sanchez
Correspondent
Al-Jazeera English

Hanaan Sarhan
News Writer
Al-Jazeera English

Tewfic El Sawy
Photographer

Nathan Shanahan
Photographer

Mark Seddon
Correspondent
Al-Jazeera English

Joel Simon
CPJ Executive Director

Steve Simon
Photographer

Cal Skaggs
Lumiere Productions

Andy Smith
Photographer

Jethro Soudant
Photographer

Sree Sreenivasan
Dean of Students, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

Will Stebbins
Bureau Chief
Al-Jazeera English

Bruno Stevens
Photographer

Jason Straziuso
AP Correspondent, Kabul

Antony Stringer
Photographer

Mark Teboe
Videographer
Al-Jazeera English

Sion Touhig
Photographer

Rick Valenzuela
Photographer

Julian Abram Wainwright
Photographer

Declan Walsh
Pakistan/Afghanistan Correspondent, The Guardian

William Widmer
Photographer

Snorre Wik
Videographer
Al-Jazeera English

Daniel Wilkinson
Photographer

Matthew Williams
Photographer

Adam Wiseman
Photographer

Jeremy Young
Package Producer
Al-Jazeera English

Hernan Zenteno
Photographer

The following signatures were gathered by Lightstalkers, an international organization of photographers and other journalists:

Teru Kuwayama
Photographer

James Pomerantz
Photographer

Bob Black
Photographer

Nana Buxani
Photographer, Filmmaker

Dominic Bracco
Photographer

Angela Cumberbirch
Photographer

Mike Wang
Photographer

David Bowen
Photojournalist

Kloie Picot
Photojournalist/Filmmaker

Sohrab Hura
Photographer

Andrew Biraj
Photojournalist

Dana De Luca
Photographer

Henri Ismail
Photojournalist

Ken Ponzio
Photographer

Munem Wasif
Photographer

Wakako Iguchi
Photographer

Julien Lévêque
Photographer

Ariana Lindquist
Photographer

Saba Laudanna
Photographer

Mark Seager
Photographer

Yolanda Crisp
Photographer

Jake Price
Photographer

Nacho Hernandez
Freelance Photographer

Ron Haviv
Photographer

Igor Ponti
Photographer

Katja Heinemann
Photojournalist

Sarah Hoskins
Photographer

Morten Hvaal
Photographer

Michael Christopher Brown
Photographer

Michael Eckels
Photographer

Jukka Onnela
Photographer

Paula Lerner
Photojournalist

John Trotter
Photographer

Andrew Cutraro
Photographer

Andy Kropa
Photojournalist

Patrick Andrade
Freelance Photographer

Radhanatha Jakupko
Photographer

Paul Gibson
Photographer

Sara Terry
Photographer

Katharina Hesse
Freelance Photographer

Kenneth Dickerman
Photographer

Arantxa Cedillo
Documentary Photographer

Gregory Sharko
Photographer/Artist

Bartek Wrzesniowski
Photojournalist

Showwei Chu
Writer And Photographer

Gabriele Torsello
Photojournalist

Bill Crandall
Photographer

Joao Pina
Photojournalist

Pete Jenkins
Photographic Consultant/Photographer

Nick Pironio
Photojournalist

Rene Edde
Student/Photojournalist

Lance Rosenfield
Photographer

David Hoffman
Photographer

Balazs Gardi
Photographer

Joshua Bickel
Photojournalist

Meridith Kohut
Photojournalist

Danny Ghitis
Photojournalist

G. Muj-Lindroos
Photographer /Designer

Bruno Decock
Photographer/Photo Editor

Bob Carey
Visual Journalist

Samantha Reinders
Photojournalist

Marlon Krieger
Photographer

Daniel Etter
Photojournalist / Student

Nayan Sthankiya
Photojournalist

Mark Manger
Photographer

David Honl
Photographer

William B. Plowman
Photojournalist

Eric Rechsteiner
Photographer

Camille Seaman
Photographer

Carlos Villalon
Photojournalist

Danfung Dennis
Freelance Photographer

Tivadar Domaniczky
Photographer

Aga Luczakowska
Photographer

Ida C. Benedetto
Media Activist/Photog

Ethan Rafal
Photojournalist

Martin Adolfsson
Photographer

Joel Fischer
Photographer

Jared Moossy
Photographer

Johann Hochstã
Photography Student

Chad Lundquist
Photojournalist

Erica Mcdonald
Photographer

J-F Vergel
Photographer

Tomas Reyes
Photographer

Tanya Habjouqa
Photographer/ Writer

Alex Masi
Photojournalist

Michael Simon
Photographer

James Robert Fuller
Photographer

Sean Lippy
Photojournalism Student

Melissa Lyttle
Photojournalist

Daniel Hayduk
Student/Freelance

Ramin Rahimian
Freelance Photographer

Brian Frank
Photojournalist

Kevin J. Miyazaki
Photographer

Ben Milpas
Photographer

Ze’sopol C. Caminha
Freelance Photojournalist

Kristina Barker
Photographer

Tommy Huynh
Photographer

Sarah Elliott
Photographer / Intern

Craig Pulsifer
Photographer / Writer

Georgios Makkas
Photographer / Writer

Luke Wolagiewicz
Photojournalist

Agnieszka Rayss
Photographer

John Watts-Robertson
Photographer

Tamer Bakar
Photographer

Graham Harrison
Photographer

Rosa Verhoeve
Photographer

Fabien Penso
Photographer

Sana Manzoor
Photographer

Manca
Photojournalist

Art Rothfuss III
Photographer

Matt Eich
Photographer

Sgt Frank Hudec, Canadian Forces Army News
Military Photographer

Scott Lewis
Photographer

Imke Lass
Photographer

Amiran White
Photojournalist

John Zillioux
Charleston, United States

Elizabeth Borda
Photographer

Theresa Scarbrough
Photojournalist

Kenneth Jarecke
Photographer

Jerome Delay
Photographer

Peter Van Agtmael
Photographer

Jennifer Gage

David Lucas
Photojournalist

J Carrier
Photographer

Michele Molinari
Photographer | Writer

Luiz Maximiano
Photographer

Malin Fezehai
Photographer

Aaron Bernstein
Student/Photojournalist

Annie Tritt
Photographer

Marc Kelly
Photographer

David Carr
Photographer

Jacquelyn Martin
Photojournalist

Vanessa Tolino
Documentary Producer

Ed Kashi Studio
Photographer

Eric Grigorian
Photojournalist

B. Conrad Lau
Photojournalist

Bruce Meyer
Photographer/Teacher

Ross Mantle
Photographer

Dalia Khamissy
Photographer

James Kenny
Photojournalist

Sveva Costa Sanseverino
Photographer

Timothy Fadek
Photographer

Firass Al Jundi
Student of Photography

Paul Blandford
Photojournalist

Dan Perez De La Garza
Photographer

Dmitry Chebotayev
Photographer

Stefan Rohner
Photographer

Patricio Valenzuela
Freelance Photojournalist

Nina Alvarez
Photographer/ Documentary Filmmaker

Bevis Fusha
Photographer

Guido Van Damme
Photographer

Raymond Thompson
Photojournalist

Mara Catalan
Photographer/Fineprinter

Barry Milyovsky
Photographer

Julia S. Ferdinand
Photographer

Eduardo Martino
Photographer

Wayne E. Yang
Writer/Photographer

Max Whittaker
Photojournalist

Rita Leistner
Photojournalist

Vivek Singh
Photojournalist

Guy Wathen
Photographer

Heidi Schumann
Photographer

Gosia
Photographer

Glenn Caulfield
Photojournalist

Becky Holladay
Photographer

John Nowak
Photographer

Tina Ahrens
Photo Editor

Seth Butler
Documentary Photographer

Aric Mayer
Photographer

Shafqat Asif
Photographer

Priscilla Mora Flores
FotãGrafa

Eros Hoagland
Photographer

Tashi Tobgyal
Photographer/ Writer

Scott Eells
Photographer

Bryan Denton
Photographer

Chris Johnson
Photographer / Filmmaker

Jason C. Andrew
Photographer/Intern

Akhtar Soomro
Photographer

Simon Roberts
Photographer

Pedro Linger Gasiglia
Photographer

Ross Mcdonnell
Photographer

Sean Dwyer
Press Photographer

Liam Maloney
Photojournalist

Jason Moore
Photographer

Andrew Stanbridge
Photographer

Yoonki Kim
Photographer

Michael Bowring
Photographer

Peter Hoffman
Photographer

Michael Ackerman
Photographer

Myriam Abdelaziz
Documentary Photographer

Miguel Coelho
Photographer

Tiane Doanna Champassak
Photographer

Reme Campos
Photographer

Martin Fuchs
Photojournalist

Thorne Anderson
Photojournalist

Mitchell Prothero
Photographer-Writer

Ziyah Gafic
Photographer

Mark J Davis
Photographer

Alexander Atwater
Photographer

Andrew McConnell
Photographer

Michael Cockerham
Photographer

Aaron Cohen
Photographer

Vittorio Zunino Celotto
Photojournalist

Alejandro Pagni
Photojournalist

Marius Nemes
Freelance Photojournalist

Brent Foster
Staff Photojournalist
National Post
Toronto, Canada

Karim Ben Khelifa
Photographer

Spencer Platt
Journalist

Natasha Mhatre
Photographer

Rachael Jane
Photographer

Allen Sullivan
Photojournalist

Victor J. Blue
Photojournalist

Eva-Maria Kunz
Photographer