Man who spent three months captured by the Taliban reveals how his son's name saved his life

A man who was held captive by the Taliban has spoken about the harrowing experience and how one word managed to save his life.

British journalist and documentary maker Sean Langan went through one of the most terrifying experiences when he was kidnapped by the Taliban back in 2008.

Langan and his translator were kidnapped while they were filming in the Afghanistan Pakistan border region for Channel 4’s Dispatches TV series.

He has explained there were many moments where he felt he would be killed and is lucky to even be alive today.

Speaking to LADbible Stories, Langan revealed how telling his captors his son’s name likely saved his life.

He explained he became aware of his surroundings, learning that Taliban leaders would come and go from this home he was being held in, with the family left to interrogate him.

Langan explained that this family were told he and his translator were ‘spies and non-believers'.

Sean Langan was asked to give up his children's name, a demand he initially refused (LADbible Stories)

He said: “I slowly I developed a relationship with this man in the house and I had read somewhere that it is much harder to kill a fellow human being. If you see someone as the label, non-believer, spy, terrorist, it is much easier to kill them.

“So I drew on all of my experiences living and working in Islamic middle east countries, of how to present yourself, how to be polite etc. I could sense it change.”

Langan went on to say that he was questioned repeatedly and would tell the truth, joking that he was a journalist and couldn’t keep a secret at all.

But when it came to asking about his own family, he initially refused to give the names of his two children.

He noted that this was not a moment of cunning or bravery but something prevented him from giving their names to them.

He explained: “I just said ‘I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t give you their names'. [I said] ‘I can’t bring in such innocence into this dark business’.

“Well this guy said 'well, we are going to have to shoot you'.”

Langan said he continued to refuse but eventually told them when they put the gun to his translators head and said they would kill him.

He told them his eldest son’s name was Luke and his youngest was called Gabriel and tomorrow he is going to turn four and wonder why his father doesn’t wish him happy birthday.

Explaining his great fortune, he noted the name Gabriel endeared him to his captors.

He said: “I started to cry and to my great luck of course, Gabriel is one of the holiest names in Islam, the archangel Gabriel brought down the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad.

“This had a transformative effect because these tribal elders and the family who have been told by these men, these warriors, that I was an un-believer suddenly seeing this weak Western man and realizing that he is willing to die rather than give up the names of one of his children.

“And he has named one of them after one of the holiest names in Islam.”

Langan said that at this point, there was a massive shift, with the family now saying that he had tribal protection and the Taliban could not kill him under their roof.

He was held hostage for 12 weeks before being released following negotiations by Channel 4 and his family.