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| Africa Horn |
| Aussie hostage recounts his ordeal in Somalia |
| 2011-06-29 |
| Daily beatings and prayer five times a day for over a year were all part of Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan's suffering at the hands of a Somalian gang after a 2008 kidnapping. What saved Brennan were the efforts of his family, who never gave up on him and took the lead in negotiations to obtain his release. Days after arriving, Brennan and Canadian documentary maker Amanda Lindhout were taken and held for $3.16 million - money their families had to find, since neither the Australian nor Canadian government will ransom their citizens. Knowing their relatives could not pay that much money, the two converted to Islam at the suggestion of one captor that their lives might be spared if they did so -- resulting in days of religious instruction, regular prayers, and reading an English translation of the Qur'an. Escape attempts were unsuccessful, one try ending when Lindhout couldn't manage to slip through the bars of a window. The two the next day managed to get into a nearby mosque. Brennan said, "We knew it would be full and we could get help from the Muslim community." But as soon as they entered the mosque, a warning shot rang out over their heads and chaos broke out. They were soon surrounded by gun-toting thugs. "Amanda was dragged out and about 20 seconds later I heard a single gunshot fired and actually believed she'd been killed," said Brennan. Brennan was pistol-whipped, kicked down to the ground and punched and believed he would be killed on the spot. The next ten months until their release were spent near starvation, and they were kept shackled. Back at home, Brennan's sister Nicky became the main hostage negotiator, with help from the Australian police. With the aid of an Australian businessman, everything finally came together and roughly $650,000 was paid for Brennan. After 462 days, the two were freed at last. Brennan says he would return to the war-torn nation if things stabilised. He said, "I would really love to see an improvement in Somalia. I would love to see the world media take a little bit more action in what's happening because local journos are being killed like flies. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #2 The two the next day managed to get into a nearby mosque. Brennan said, "We knew it would be full and we could get help from the Muslim community." But as soon as they entered the mosque, a warning shot rang out over their heads and chaos broke out. They were soon surrounded by gun-toting thugs. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-06-29 19:53 |
| #1 savages |
| Posted by: aidincguy 2011-06-29 19:42 |