Thursday 29 October 2009

Tribute to bravery of BBC staff in Kabul bureau

BBC World News Editor Jon Williams has paid tribute to the bravery of BBC staff in Kabul following the attack this week on the Serena Hotel and a guesthouse used by the UN.
Writing on the BBC editors' blog, he says the attack "underscores the dangers facing journalists in Afghanistan."
He adds: "The BBC is the only British broadcaster to have a permanent bureau in Kabul.
We were there during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, and remained throughout the US led assault on the country in 2001.
"It would be so much easier to simply report that troubled country from behind the wire of the British base at Camp Bastion or position ourselves alongside the Canadian media pool at the ISAF base in Kandahar.
"But we have a responsibility to tell all sides of the story - not simply report Afghanistan as it looks from inside the perimeter of an army base.
"That we're able to do so is a tribute to the bravery of my colleagues in Kabul - not just those you read online or see and hear on air such as Ian Pannell and Martin Patience, but those behind the scenes who help them tell the story."

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