US reporter flees Afghan captors

Mr Rohde was researching a book when he was snatched

A US journalist kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban last year has managed to escape from the compound where he was being held, the New York Times says.

The newspaper says its reporter, David Rohde, scaled the wall of the compound with an Afghan journalist who was kidnapped with him last November.

The pair were being held in Pakistan's North Waziristan region and were helped to escape by a Pakistani army scout.

The White House said the whole of the US was "very pleased" he had escaped.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the escape "marks the end of a long and difficult ordeal".

Relief and gratitude

Mr Rohde and his colleague Tahi Ludin were seized by militants after setting out from the Afghan capital, Kabul, to interview a Taliban commander on 10 November.

A third member of their group, an Afghan driver, is still being held, Mr Rohde told the Times.

Mr Rohde's wife, Kristen Mulvihill, expressed relief at his escape and thanked the newspaper and the government for their help.

"Now we just hope to have a chance to reunite with him in peace," she told the Times.

"We've been married nine months - and seven of those, David has been in captivity."

Mr Rohde - who was part of a Times team who won the Pulitzer Prize earlier this year - was in Afghanistan researching a book at the time of his capture.

The Times did not report the incident until the escape, fearing any publicity could have put his life at risk.