WASHINGTON: An Afghan man accused of kidnapping an American journalist and two Afghan civilians in 2008 was arrested and extradited from Ukraine to the United States for trial, US authorities said Wednesday.

Haji Najibullah, 44, "arranged to kidnap at gunpoint an American journalist and two other men, and held them hostage for more than seven months," said the prosecutor in charge of the case, Audrey Strauss.

The Justice Department did not give the hostages' names, but New York Times journalist David Rohde was kidnapped in Afghanistan in November 2008, along with a translator and driver.