BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been kidnapped in Gaza in the Palestinian Territories, and so the BBC has been rebroadcasting some of his reports for the foreign affairs programme From Our Own Correspendent. One of the reports recounts a meeting with the Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum in Afghanistan.

It’s a fascinating account, though parts of the report are quite ripe and overwrought:

‘The place bustled with General Dostum’s fighters, many in traditional Uzbek dress; tightly-bound turbans and long padded coats for keeping out the icy winds of the steppe.’

In the fashion of warlords everywhere, Dostum seems to have a keen sense for the theatrical and is clearly something of a self-publicist:

‘The general dismounted and strode towards me, a huge man in a turban, his Uzbek jacket reaching down to his riding boots, and in his hand he carried a whip.

‘He was orchestrating what amounted to a grandiose photo opportunity. His fighters had had some success, and he wanted to make sure that the BBC and the outside world knew about it.’

Johnston’s portrait is almost benign, belying Dostum’s fearsome reputation. Of course, Dostum can afford to be quite smug: the Taliban are gone, he’s Army Chief of Staff, and, oh, the good ‘ole boys in the Afghan parliament passed an Amnesty Law drawing a curtain over warcrimes committed by the likes of Dostum.