Kidnapped journalist on video

A videotape of Beverly Giesbrecht, a freelance journalist who was kidnapped almost three months ago in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region, surfaced on Monday according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. The reporter, who also goes by the name of Khadija Abdul Qahaar and publishes Jihad Unspun, was kidnapped in November, 2008 in the Bannu district of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province

In the four-minute-and-43-second video, Giesbrecht says she was kidnapped by the Taliban on her second trip to the region to meet a man with a rare coin collection whom she wished to interview.

"I have been in captivity now for almost three months," she said. "I wake up in the dark and I go to sleep in the dark. There is nothing but a wood furnace and not enough wood.

"I am not sure exactly my location. I am someplace in the Afghan border area. There are air raids … This is the war zone." link

A ransom deal was reported by the English language Pakistani News International in January, 2009, but there has been no word of any payment. The Toronto Star has more on the videotape and reaction from the Canadian Journalists Association.