Kidnapped Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout reaches freedom in Kenya
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Somalian Presidential Office/AFP/Getty Images Amanda Lindhout sits next to Australian journalist Nigel Brennan a few hours before their departure from Mogadishu airport। The journalists flew out of Somalia today at the end of a 15-month hostage .
Freed Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout left Somalia Thursday morning, ending her 15-month hostage ordeal in which she was tortured, beaten and often given barely enough food to survive.
After meeting with the prime minister of Somalia's transitional federal government who offered an official apology, Ms. Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan, who was kidnapped along with her, left Mogadishu and flew to freedom in Nairobi, where they were taken to a hotel by Canadian and Australian officials and were reportedly met by Ms. Lindhout's mother. The pair made no comment on their arrival.
Somali politician Abdul M. Aden said Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan met with Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke before they left Mogadishu. Sharmarke once lived in Canada.
The prime minister offered Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan and apology for their captivity which began on Aug. 23, 2008, said Daud Abdi Daud Dhimbil, of the Somali Journalist Rights Agency, who has been tracking the case.
"They met earlier today with the Somalian prime minister and he apologized to them for what happened," said Dhimbil, in an interview from Nairobi.
Ms. Lindhout was emotional following her release.
"Everything has changed. I'm not the same person I was 16 months ago," Ms. Lindhout told Global National from the Somali capital on Wednesday after her release. "It's kind of hard for me to say what's going to happen. I'm still in shock."
Mr. Aden lives at the Mogadishu hotel where Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan spent much of Wednesday.
He said he sat with Ms. Lindhout in her hotel room, number 218, for about 20 minutes, trying to calm her down and stayed in touch with her throughout the day and into the evening.
He said he spoke to her about his visits to Toronto and how much he loved Canada and gave her a pen and three pieces of paper, along with a clean shirt.
"It was just something. I came inside my room and I thought what can I give her," Mr. Aden said, in a telephone interview with Canwest News Service Thursday morning. "I said, oh, she is a reporter, maybe she would want to write telephone numbers."
Ms. Lindhout, a freelance journalist with extensive foreign reporting experience, and Mr. Brennan, an Australian photographer, were kidnapped at gunpoint last August about 25 kilometres west of the war-torn Somali capital as they travelled to visit a refugee camp.
Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan were kept in rough conditions, given little food, faced beatings and torture while holed up in dark, windowless rooms.
"There were times when I was beaten. I was tortured in extremely difficult situations," Ms. Lindhout, 28, told CTVNews. "Yeah, because the money wasn't [coming] quickly enough for these men, and they seemed to think that if they beat me enough, when I was able to speak to my mother... I would be able to say the right things."
Ms. Lindhout said the kidnappers did not seem to understand that a $1-million ransom was a large sum of money and apparently thought that everyone in Canada was rich.
"There were some really dark moments, but I think as human beings we have an ability to adapt in trying times," she told the TV network. "It kept me going in that darkness."
Asked if at any point she had felt sympathy for her kidnappers, Ms. Lindhout didn't hesitate.
"No. None. None whatsoever."
Ms. Lindhout said she believed a ransom was paid by her family for her release.
Reports have pegged the ransom at between $700,000 to $1-million.
Reuters news agency reported Thursday morning that the kidnappers said it was not until members of the Somali government became involved in the negotiations that the hostage takers felt they could trust the talks.
The kidnappers had originally demanded $1-million for each hostage, Reuters reported.
Somalia has become one of the most dangers places on Earth for foreigners who risk kidnap and torture on an almost daily basis.
Mr. Aden said he felt "shame" for what had happened to Ms. Lindhout, especially because Canada has given refuge to so many Somalis over the years.
Ms. Lindhout arrived early Wednesday morning at the hotel with an armed convoy and two Somali MPs who belonged to the same tribe as the kidnappers, said Mr. Aden. He said hotel security initially fired warning shots as the convoy approached.
Mr. Aden said the two MPs met with the kidnappers about 15 kilometres away from the hotel and Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan were transferred from one convoy to another.
Mr. Aden said he doesn't know how the government convoy made its way to the hotel through treacherous terrain controlled by various militants who operated several checkpoints along the way.
"Everyone was talking about how you can pass all these road blocks in the night time, amazing, they were very lucky. I am not surprised (Lindhout and Brennan) were shaking," he said. "Some of these things you don't want to wish on your enemy."
The central Somali government has little control over Mogadishu and the rest of the country, which has plunged into near anarchy amid fighting between militant Islamic forces and pro-government troops.
Mr. Aden said Ms. Lindhout arrived wearing dark garments, with her head covered.
He said Ms. Lindhout rarely smiled, but added, "she is a tough girl."
Freed Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout left Somalia
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