Yvonne Ridley

--- CONTENT ---
Yvonne Ridley (born 1959 in Stanley, County Durham, England) is a British journalist, war correspondent and convert to Islam.
Currently, Ridley works as a freelance journalist for the English-language Iranian news channel Press TV.

Taliban Prisoner and Conversion to Islam
After the attacks of September 11, her then employer sent Sunday Express to Afghanistan. Shortly before, the Taliban had urged all foreigners to leave the country and threatened to kill anyone using a satellite phone.

Since she was not granted a visa as a journalist, Ridley decided to cross the border anonymously in a burqa, following the example of BBC reporter John Simpson. The Afghan side discovered her illegal entry and arrested Ridley with her leaders near Jalalabad. After a week of solitary confinement, she was transferred to Kabul. In the prison there she met Christian missionary Heather Mercer.

That same week, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the British began bombing targets in Afghanistan. Taliban leader Mohammed Omar then ordered Ridley’s release, for which he cited “humanitarian reasons.” Her companions, however, were still detained.

After her release, Ridley reported that she had promised to read the Koran during her imprisonment. This changed her life. She called the Koran “Magna Carta for Women.” In the summer of 2003, Ridley converted to Islam.

Private
Ridley is married in second marriage. When she met her first husband Daoud Zaaroura in Cyprus, he was a colonel of the PLO. They have a daughter together (* 1992).

Weblinks
Yvonne Ridley's website
Website of your party
Yvonne Ridley audio and video lectures from Halal Tube
"Video media of Yvonne Ridley Explaining Her kidnap Ordeal, Islam and Women Clears Misconceptions", www.TurnToIslam.com, 25. April 2006. – Webpage with 1-hour long interview.
"Yvonne Ridley", BBC Inside Out - North East & Cumbria, 6 October 2003.
"Online Journalist Profile: Yvonne Ridley, Al-Jazeera.net", interview by Jemima Kiss, Journalism.co.uk, 10. January 2004.
Yvonne Ridley's account of her experience with Afghanistan and Islam, Muslim Students' Association NY, 23. March 2006. MP3 audio.
"Stop collaboration with police", Ezania.net. Includes a link to an MP3 file from the BBC 4 interview of 7 July. June 2006, in which Yvonne Ridley calls on Muslims not to cooperate with the London police.
How I Came To Love The Veil – Yvonne Ridley on the subject of veiling.
Yvonne Ridley interview in The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Individual evidence

Journalist (United Kingdom)
Journalist (Iran)
British
Born in 1959
Woman