An isolated English teacher in pakistan falls in love with his student only to be kidnapped by the taliban, his only chance of winning his love and life back is to teach English in 10 days to Osama Bin laden's successor.

Wow Thanks claude mclver. I have not started writing yet and was just exploring this idea and posted. You have given me a lot to think about.

Interesting idea. What I can't get over is why kidnap someone to make them teach English? (Perhaps Al Qaeda just wanted to shut down the school but when they find the teacher they realize they can put him to use?) What hope does the teacher (and audience) have that Al Qaeda won't just kill him when they are done with him?

There should be more jeopardy all around. What if the Al Qaeda leader wants someone to teach English to his daughter, which would make him a hypocrite and threaten his power. So it has to be done secretly, thus giving the teacher something of a bargaining chip. What if the daughter and the teacher THEN fall in love?

What if the teacher was really an undercover CIA operative? What if finding his soul mate was the last thing he expected. What if he thought finding the Al Qaeda leader was a suicide mission, but now he's got a reason to live and escape back to America (with the daughter of course).

As far as the ticking clock, I would only include it if you tell us the stakes. Like...
"An kidnapped American English teacher has 10 days to prep Al Qaeda's top leader for a speech that will change the world"

I think that you should retain the specific number of days. Like Jim Corona says, it does provide a ticking clock. More importantly though, it begs the question of why: why does he need to learn English in such a short time?
As to whether 10 days is too short, I feel this is something that should be answered in the script. In the pitch it does seem unreasonable, but perhaps that is the point?

I don't know about dropping the number days, because it clearly establishes your ticking clock. However, I think 10 is an unrealistic number ... it should be brief to make it seem undo-able, but not so brief that it's impossible.
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A couple questions (for my edification; the answers might or might not be included in the logline, depending upon your answers):
How did he get caught? This could be the inciting incident, the turn into Act II, or the midpoint.
Why does the al-Qaeda leader NEED to learn English? This could possibly give the antagonist a need that is diametrically opposed to that of your protagonist.
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Good potential!
...................j

Actually the love part and the 10 days part has been removed. And now it simply stands as:
When an isolated American teacher in a rural Pakistan is kidnapped by Al-Qaeda, he must teach English to Osama bin Laden?s successor to stay alive.

I'm wondering why he has 10 days and what will happen if he fails.

Also, i believe that they are anti female education. So much so that there have been punishments and the like. Could she perhaps be a bargaining chip?

I understand that the love part will not be good to include in the logline . Thanks Dpg and Richiev

I agree with DPG,about the love story, If it isn't the main story then it probably shouldn't be in the logline.

Anyway

Possible title: My Fair Terrorist

When an idealistic American teacher in a rural Pakistan is kidnapped by Al-Qaeda terrorists, he must teach English to Osama bin Laden's successor to stay alive.

Notes:
Osama bin Laden was the founder/leader of Al-Qaeda. The Taliban were political allies of bin Laden, not subordinates.

The "B" story, the love complication, is okay for the story line, but not the hook, ergo, not essential to the logline.