Davis hits out over Langan ransom

The revelation that Channel 4 paid a ransom of more than £150,000 to secure the release of Sean Langan (right), the Bafta-nominated documentary-maker kidnapped and held hostage in Afghanistan, has prompted protests from the British security services, the Foreign Office and MPs, among them former shadow home secretary David Davis.

Says Davis: "I can see why Channel 4 felt this obligation and why people do pay ransoms to release valued employees or loved family members. The trouble is, stepping back and looking at this from a distance, it almost certainly will lead to further kidnaps taking place."

Langan, 43, had travelled to the Afghan/Pakistan border hoping to interview Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's deputy leader. In the Sunday Times, doubt was cast on Langan's assertion that he and his interpreter had been held captive by members of the Taliban. A British security service source said that they were abducted by "two-bit criminals" interested only in money. "They had very close links to the Taliban and they were based in a Taliban area, but they weren't the real deal."