London: Britain`s Channel 4 on Thursday said it
would go ahead and air a controversial drama-documentary
depicting Prince Harry being kidnapped in Afghanistan, defying
appeals by the military not to broadcast the fictional plot.
The documentary titled "The Taking of Prince Harry" is
to be beamed tonight, a last minute appeal by the British
Armed Forces Chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup to drop
the programme.
A Channel 4 spokesman told Daily Express "We will go
ahead and air the documentary as planned."
The TV channel in its defence said the documentary had
been made to show the risk faced by British forces by
Afghanistan and potential consequences of capture of a high
profile individual.
Prince Harry, 26, the third in line to the British
throne, did a ten week active combat stint in Afghanistan with
the Royal forces, before being withdrawn from frontline
prematurely in 2008 after media leaks of his posting.
Now, his elder brother Prince William has expressed
intentions to do an active stint in the same battlefield.
The 90-minute documentary includes fictionalised
scenes depicting actor Sebastian Reid, playing Harry being
taken hostage by the Taliban and an unloaded gun being pointed
on his face before the captor pulls the trigger.
The Prince is also shown forced to appear in Taliban
and al Qaeda propoganda. The picture shows how the British
government reacts to ransom demands of the militants.
Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the
programme, but British military forces have vociferously
attacked the programme, saying it showed lack of respect to
10,000 troops in Afghanistan.
PTI
