Two foreign journalists released Sunday from captivity in Somalia recounted their ordeal on Monday, with one saying a pint of beer was his first priority upon regaining his freedom.British reporter Colin Freeman expressed relief at being released, but in an account for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, he also told of the darkest moments of his captivity with a Spanish photographer, including when kidnappers put a gun to his head and acted out his "imminent execution."
The indication that they were finally to be released came when one of their Somali captors stuck his head into the cave where they were being held, saying there was another telephone call from London. "It was at least the 10th call from London since we were snatched and while each offered a welcome lifeline to the outside world, they were always fraught with tension," wrote Freeman, the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph. "Occasionally, there would be news that the talks to free us were progressing well, but more often the word was of endless complications.