[Leica] Kidnapped Australian Photographer, Canadian and Somali Journalist

[hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (Geoff Hopkinson)]

LUG folks, A new report has emerged on the kidnapping that I posted on a
little while ago.

The kidnappers of an Australian photographer and Canadian and Somali
journalists in Somalia are demanding a $US2.5 million ($A3.08 million)
ransom, a traditional chief in contact with the abductors has said.

"The kidnappers demanded $US2.5 million and we are trying to secure their
release," said Dahir Farah, who has been participating in negotiations to
free the three abducted in Somalia last month.

Another person claiming to be an intermediary for the kidnappers who
contacted AFP spoke of the same ransom demand. He also allowed two people
claiming to be the foreign journalists to speak briefly.

"I'm Amanda, the Canadian journalist. Our health situation is very well for
the time being," Amanda Lindhout, a freelance foreign correspondent from the
western Canadian province of Alberta, purportedly said.

A man claiming to be Nigel Geoffrey Brennan, an Australian photographer,
said: "We are very well now mentally and physically."

They were speaking from an undisclosed location.

"We need a ransom of $2.5 million to free the hostages," said the
intermediary, Adan Nur Siad, who added that he had been in touch with
representatives of the Australian police in Nairobi.

Brennan and Lindhout, as well as their Somali fixer, who is also a
journalist, were abducted on August 23 on the road from the capital
Mogadishu to Afgoye, where they intended to visit refugee camps.

Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted in Somalia, a
country torn apart by unrest since 1991. Most kidnappings include ransom
demands.

 

Cheers

Geoff

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