Amanda Lindhout's 15 months of captivity ended with the flick of car lights on a road south of Mogadishu and the transfer of more than half a million dollars.
Somalia's prime minister and senior government officials revealed details to the Star of the dramatic release after Canadian Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan arrived safely Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, aboard a chartered plane.
The 28-year-old freelance journalist from Alberta, who said she was beaten by her kidnappers and kept alone in a windowless room for months, spent the night in a Nairobi hospital. Canadian officials would not comment on her condition.
Before their sudden release, the situation had looked dire for the pair, trapped in a land where the Canadian and Australian governments have no sway.
But according to several government officials, the hostage taking was always about ransom. Somalia's government is battling a group with reported Al Qaeda links known as Al-Shabaab and there was fear the pair would be traded to a hard-line faction of the group that would seek publicity over cash.
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, a Canadian citizen, said the release followed intense negotiations with clan elders, businessmen and the kidnappers' relatives.
"Some people really risked their lives to get them from where they were," Sharmarke said in a telephone interview from Mogadishu.
It came down to money, reportedly raised by relatives of Lindhout and Brennan.
Australia's ABC News reported Thursday night that Brennan's family had gone into debt to hire a private hostage negotiator for $3,000 a day. In a separate interview, Australian millionaire electronics retailer Dick Smith confirmed he had personally contributed funds and said a British security firm was the lead negotiator.
While Lindhout's relatives could not be reached for comment, there were reports her family had remortgaged their Edmonton-area home as well.
Somali National Security Minister Mohamed Abdullahi told the Star the ransom was "not less than $500,000" and was sent to the kidnappers through a series of brokers.
Initially the kidnappers had demanded millions and it took months to convince them to lower their ransom, Abdullahi said. Lindhout confirmed in a CTV interview Wednesday night from Mogadishu that her captors beat her because the money wasn't "coming quickly enough."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement Thursday saying Canada has a policy against paying ransom and Abdullahi confirmed that the government was not involved in recent negotiations.
"It was not easy," Abdullahi said of the deal making.
He said once the kidnappers were guaranteed a payment, they agreed to send a taxi with the captives to the Afgooye corridor, a region populated by refugees about 30 kilometres south of Mogadishu.
"They said they'll turn the lights on and then off and that would be the indication."
Somali government security officers had surrounded the area earlier in the evening. When they saw the lights of the taxi, they moved in.
"It was a very exciting and emotional moment," said Abdullahi. "(Lindhout and Brennan) didn't know what was going on. They thought people were coming to kill them, or maybe they were being sold to other groups."
The freelance journalists were flown out of Somalia Thursday morning on a chartered flight, arriving at Nairobi's Wilson Airport at around 2 p.m. A convoy of vehicles drove away from the airport reportedly carrying the pair to the Aga Khan University hospital.
Although medical exams are customary following kidnappings, widespread rumours had circulated that Lindhout had been raped and had given birth during her captivity. In describing her ordeal Wednesday, Lindhout spoke of beatings and isolation, but she did not talk about sexual abuse and neither she, nor Brennan spoke with journalists in Nairobi.
"Amanda's parents are overjoyed and request continued privacy for the family while they focus on Amanda and her transition back to normal life," Sarah Geddes, spokeswoman for the Lindhout family, said in a statement. "They will return to Canada as soon as Amanda is fit to fly home."
Lindhout's translator and travel companion, Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, came to the hotel in Gigiri – a suburb north of Nairobi – where her relatives were believed to be staying, hoping that he could see her. Elmi – who was kidnapped along with Lindhout and Brennan, but freed in January – said he hadn't spoken to Lindhout's family since her return.
Lindhout had worked as a freelance reporter in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan before joining Iranian news network Press TV in 2008. Her Facebook site is filled with glamorous photos of her reporting from around the world.
Local journalists had reportedly warned her against going into Somalia, considered one of the world's most dangerous locales for the media and human rights workers. She was kidnapped with Brennan and Elmi, and two security guards, on Aug. 23, 2008 while the group headed to a refugee camp.
While there had been criticism in Canada that Lindhout had gone into Somalia ill-prepared for the security risks and without the financial and security backing of a media outlet, there had also been pressure for the Canadian government to do more. Lindhout's father John, and mother Lorinda Stewart rarely spoke publicly, reportedly on the advice of foreign affairs officials.
Canadian government sources say that while Canadian officials in Nairobi worked toward her release, there was a chill in Ottawa following the rescue of Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay. The diplomats, who had been kidnapped in Mali, were freed in April after four local Al Qaeda affiliates were released, according to high ranking officials from Mali who spoke with the Globe and Mail.
Ottawa maintains it played no role in the prisoner trade and while there may have been no direct involvement, Canada had been putting pressure on the Mali government to negotiate a release. The government source told the Star debates concerning Canada's involvement in recent Lindhout negotiations reached the Prime Minister's Office. The message handed down was to not get involved.
Source:thestar.com/
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