Reporter ‘still in shock’ after gaining freedom

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/11/2009 (6031 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout is receiving medical attention for the trauma she endured during 15 months in captivity in Somalia, the country she finally left Thursday.

After meeting with Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke of Somalia’s transitional federal government, who offered an official apology, Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan — who was kidnapped with her — left Mogadishu and flew to freedom in Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya, where they were taken to a hotel by Canadian and Australian officials and reportedly were met by Lindhout’s mother. The pair made no comment on their arrival.

Daud Abdi Daud Dhimbil of the Somali Journalist Rights Agency, which has been tracking the case, said the two journalists were receiving private medical care in Nairobi.

“The current condition of the journalists is not good,” Daud said from Nairobi. “They need to rest and get enough medication. They suffered torture and were beaten.

He said Lindhout and Brennan were being treated by medical staff, but not in one of the city’s hospitals.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians were relieved. He warned other Canadians in Somalia or those considering travelling to the lawless nation. “We continue to urge Canadians not to travel to Somalia, and those that are in Somalia to leave,” Harper said in a statement, adding his government was “not involved in ransom negotiations.”

The families of Lindhout and Brennan hired the British security firm AKE Group to negotiate their ransom.

Hanna-Caroline Imig, a spokeswoman for the firm said Thursday the Canadian and Australian governments “had the case for 340 days before the families took control and engaged AKE who were able to bring it to a successful conclusion after 120 days.”

The families had to raise the ransom money, estimated in media reports at between $700,000 and $1 million. Amanda’s father John Lindhout re-mortgaged his house in Sylvan Lake, Alta., in late October.

Lindhout was finally freed Wednesday, describing an ordeal in which she was beaten, tortured and forced to call her mother to beg for her life. “Everything has changed. I’m not the same person I was 16 months ago. It’s kind of hard for me to say what’s going to happen. I’m still in shock,” she said.

Reuters reported the kidnappers said it was not until members of the Somali government became involved in negotiations that they felt they could trust the talks.

— Canwest News Service