Lyse Doucet still in Kabul

[everythingthelighttouches]

I know she regularly reports from dangerous places but am I the only person to be surprised that Lyse Doucet is still in Kabul? How on Earth will she get out? She must be a target for ISIS?

I imagine she knows exactly what she is doing, she's 62 years old and incredibly experienced. She's taking a view that she wants to report on what's happening there and will understand that western military won't be rescuing her.

As PP have said, she will have contacts, money and isn't bound by the same requirement the military have (acting on behalf of a state) to adhere to various regulations, she can take a personal decision to pay bribes/call in favours etc as needed to guarantee her exit.

I can imagine she speaks the local language perfectly and a woman in a burqa or niqab can go under the radar easily.

There are non-Afghan NGO staff who've opted to stay as well. I wonder if the Taliban will try and use those Westerners left behind as part of a positive PR campaign. For now...........

Secunder kermani is of Pakistani heritage. The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is notoriously porous, I'd imagine he has a lot of help in the region to support him leaving if he needs to.

Lord love her. Like others I was relieved, and slightly surprised, when she reported from Dubai.

But then there she was, back in the thick of it.

bluewanda I know :( I’m not saying it’s a pleasant position to be in, just that the taliban might be more likely to be seen to be letting journalists report to the world, and not be seen simply hounding them out or killing them, for the sake of trying to look like a functioning state.

Doesn't The Times have at least 2 journalists in Kabul? Antony Loyd and Charlie Faulkner's by-lines both say "in Kabul" today

I think she is brave, she is also able to show tremendous empathy when reporting on the plight of the people she is reporting on, she is an incredible woman and I admire her greatly. She is a consummate professional.

She’s absolutely fearless, I so admire her. Her presence is undoubtedly of value to the Taliban, it gives credence to their assertion that they’re different now. I hope her courage is recognised at some point. Dame Lyse would work.

I was wondering the same thing. But she did say that the Taliban will want to get the country "running normally" asap, including commercial flights in and out in a few days. So presumably she (and some others, with the right papers) would be able to hop on a plane soon, if she wants to.
I thought she was incredible last night, speaking straight to camera while there's celebratory gunfire around. They could easily fire at her.

Was thinking this exact thing yesterday. She was like - 'oh sounds like it's the last of the C-17s (or whatever), they may be all out now' - and I was like 'wtf! why are you still there then?'

She's 62. 62! I'm 20 years her junior and not even dressed yet!

Thanks to whoever linked the NS article, a good read.

I was going to start a thread about this. I agree @everythingthelighttouches

She is amazing - what a woman.
There's a younger male journalist that pops up in news items too, also very brave. I shamefully don't know his name. I think he might have left now as haven't seen a report from him in a while.

I was surprised to see her reporting last night as the final USA troops left. What a brave lady. Whilst the Taliban may not be such a risk ISIS K seems to be a huge danger now.

I follow her on Twitter. She's doing a lot to 'engage' with the PR side of Taliban, to say "Prove we can trust you on things you say you plan to do".

Journalists are very concerned to keep reporting going about the real experiences of people still in the country. LD is not ready to give up yet.

Frank Gardner talks a lot in his memoirs about how important personal assurances of safety are in these traditional cultures. How much they oblige both sides, especially the persons who promise a level of personal safety to you. It's how journalists get to a risk-safety balance they can tolerate.

[quote Empressofthemundane]@PicsInRed

Is she worth more as a bribe? Who would pay it?

The UK government has a no payment for hostages policy. I am not sure the BBC would be allowed to pay either as a state organisation.[/quote]
Oh no, they won't hostage her for money, they'll hostage her for profile and terror and propaganda purposes.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cantlie

@GU24Mum

Unless she's had cast iron behind the scenes assurances, it does seem risky (putting it mildly) that she's still there. What about Secunder Kermani - is he there too?

I believe he is.

I admire the two greatly. Always had such respect for war journalists.

Yes they are both targets for terrorism, however they both speak the local language and both have lots of experience in the area and in dangerous situations.

Also i would imagine its very much in the Taliban's interests to protect them too if they want to be taken seriously as a country. So i suspect they will get support from the authorities there. The Taliban want to show the world that they aren't just from the middle ages and can be a islamic state for the 21st Century.

There have always been reporters in war zones. Its rare there is no journalists or citizen reporters at all. Syria being one of the most notable exceptions (which says something about how bad the situation was there). But the Taliban want to be an international player now and that does make them different.

The BBC might now find they are prohibited from filming certain things and are censored but they will be allowed to do at least something.

Journalism is one of the most dangerous professions in the world. Many are killed. Theres a group called reporters without borders who keep tabs on how dangerous various countries are for journalists. South America is surprising bad - much more than you would think for 'civilised' nations

Right now she is probably far safer than most Afghan journalists are.

And she has decades of contacts and experience of the region.

Amazing journalist, I’m such a big fan.

@NiceGerbil

I'm amazed they're on Twitter though. That's so out of line with their principles. The spokesperson bloke? Anyone got a link?

Twitter account of spokesperson here (not verified though).

twitter.com/suhailshaheen1?s=20

What's noticeable is how many astroturf/bot accounts there are as well. Any news report on an atrocity or extreme ruling, whatever is followed up by an account with a young looking male saying something like "Sounds fair to me" etc. How quickly they've learnt to use social media.

@RobinPenguins

Right now she is probably far safer than most Afghan journalists are.

And she has decades of contacts and experience of the region.

Amazing journalist, I’m such a big fan.

Its probably her contacts and fixers both within the liberal circles and taliban who are currently more at risk than she and her camera man - because of her. They deserve some credit too - regardless of their agenda. It is important to have journalists there even if they don't have full freedom to report.

Gardner isn't the only high-profile journalist to have been specifically attacked.

Marie Colvin, and the media building where she and other journalists were working, were deliberately targeted by the Syrian government in 2012.

I'm pretty sure I remember reports of the shelling even before the strike that killed Colvin.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Colvin

IIRC, the Syrians Colvin was working with were planning to risk their own lives to get her out, for the same reason the Syrian government was desperate to stop her, viz: the story she could tell if she got out.

Thus far, the Taliban have a use for Doucet being there – as PR for how all is going nicely. But that could change.

I admire her - putting herself in harm’s way to enable those without a voice to tell their stories to the world. I hope she can get out safely when the time comes.

Somewhat off topic, but I struggle to decipher where Lyse’s accent is from. I read she’s Canadian, but she sounds a little bit Irish and a little Northern European too. Is she a native English speaker?

Closer to home, Veronica Guerin was murdered in Ireland (by organised crime). It felt closer, because she was the cousin of someone I know.

That was when I realised just how risky journalism can be. It’s a dangerous profession.

@Bluebellsinparadise

Closer to home, Veronica Guerin was murdered in Ireland (by organised crime). It felt closer, because she was the cousin of someone I know.

That was when I realised just how risky journalism can be. It’s a dangerous profession.

And Daphne Caruana Galizia, murdered by the Maltese state because she was getting too close to uncovering the corruption it was involved in. Journalists don’t have to be in a war zone to be in danger.

Yes I was going to mention Malta too. And there was that young woman in Northern Ireland - Lyra McKee? Very close to home!