Released hostages shot at during escape 

Source: ReutersFreed hostages, Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian freelance reporter, and Nigel Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist  

Somalian kidnappers fired shots at Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan and his Canadian companion during the night-time exchange that secured their freedom.

The dramatic end to their ordeal came last week after the pair spent 15 months being held for ransom, mostly in isolation after a failed escape attempt.

Brennan, 37, of Bundaberg in southeast Queensland, and Amanda Lindhout, a 28-year-old Canadian freelance writer, were initially well cared for by their kidnappers as ransom negotiations were under way.

But that changed in January, after they loosened bricks in a wall and made a dash for freedom.

They reached the steps of a nearby mosque before the kidnappers caught up to them, says John Chase, a UK-based hostage negotiator for AKE Group, which the families paid to secure their eventual release.

"Some people were too scared to help them and the gang caught up to them," he told The Canadian Press in an interview.

"There was actually a story of some people trying to help them that got beaten down and they got recaptured.

"From that point on, things got a lot worse for them. They were shackled (and) kept in separate rooms."

Lindhout was kept in a dark room and tortured and beaten, while Brennan, who had been passing blood for months, was pistol whipped.

Both are now recovering in hospital in Kenya and are expected to return to their home countries in the coming days.

Armed gunmen grabbed the Brennan and Lindhout when they were on their way to a refugee camp south of Mogadishu in August 2008.

A source close to the hostage talks confirmed that the total ransom paid for their release was $600,000 - not including the costs the families incurred by hiring AKE Group.

They were meant to be rescued a week earlier, Chase said, but the operation was delayed until two Somali MPs, from the same clan as the kidnappers, stepped in to help.

A planned daylight transfer was delayed while their captors had a meal and prayed.

The exchange was finally carried out that night, with the kidnappers firing parting shots at the car carrying the pair to safety.

Brennan and Lindhout cried uncontrollably during their release, said Nur Aden Nur, one of the Somali MPs who helped in the negotiations.

"They started crying. There was no way to talk to them. But I gave them the phone to talk with their mothers," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Nobody told them they were coming to us."

The pair was flown to the the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where they were told they had parasites from eating contaminated food, Chase said.

Lindhout revealed she had suffered constant pain from an abscessed tooth.

Both families gave up on efforts by their respective governments a year after the kidnapping, turning instead to raising money to pay the ransom themselves.

Businessman Dick Smith, who helped fund the pair's release, said he'd love to meet Brennan some day and he had no regrets about sending money into the hands of criminals.

"It was always a concern that money was going to criminals, but my decision came down to this: Do you let someone die?" he says.

Smith would not reveal how much he contributed.

"While I respect (the fact) governments don't pay ransom, I can understand the families being desperate," Smith said.

"The lesson here is, don't go there."