SYDNEY—Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan says he and his companion were kept isolated and tortured during the 15 months they was held captive in the troubled African country of Somalia.
Mr Brennan says he is okay after he and Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout were released on Wednesday, with their families reportedly paying kidnappers a $US1 million ($A1.09 million) ransom.
The pair were captured on August 23, 2008, when they were en route from Mogadishu to visit a refugee camp in Afgooye, a town just outside the capital.
Their Somali driver and two Somali guards were also taken but were released on January 16.
Mr Brennan, 37, said the 15-month experience had "been pretty arduous", with the pair suffering physical and mental torture.
"Locked in a room, very little light... You know, simple things like being told not to smile, not to laugh - not that there was much to laugh about," he told Reuters by phone from his hotel in Mogadishu.
"But my friend Amanda had a pretty rough time... She was severely beaten and we were both tortured both mentally and physically.
"Being pistol whipped is sort of torture, being completely stripped of everything and then locked in a room, no one to speak to, is a form of torture, really."
Mr Brennan said he and Ms Lindhout - who were held separately - had no idea they were about to be released before they were "ripped out of our rooms".
"(We were) stripped of everything, told to put on new clothes and then thrown in a car and then driven - we had no idea what was going on," he said.
Ms Lindhout told Canadian television she was beaten and tortured, and kept in oppressive conditions, during her long confinement.
Like Mr Brennan, she was kept in a room with little natural light, given little food and allowed to use the toilet only five times a day.
"Basically, my day was sitting on a corner, on the floor, 24 hours a day for the last 15 months," she said.
"There were times that I was beaten, that I was tortured. It was an extremely, extremely difficult situation."
Mr Brennan's family said they were overwhelmed by news of his release but added he would not be out of danger until he left Somalia.
Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted for ransom in Somalia, one of the world's poorest and most war-torn countries.
The country has been mired in anarchy and chaos since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, with foreign and local workers often forced to travel in heavily guarded convoys.
"It's very hard to express the overwhelming sense of joy that we have today, as we feel as a family, at the news of Nigel and Amanda's release," a clearly emotional Kellie Brennan, his sister-in-law, told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
"I want to make it really clear to you all that they are still in Somalia and not out of danger yet."
"For 462 days, our families had hoped that this day would come.
"It has been a unbelievably harrowing and wearing ordeal and nothing could have prepared us for what we have gone through since Nigel's capture."
Ms Brennan said her brother-in-law would take "plenty of time" to readjust to normal life following his 15 months in captivity.
She said he would undergo a medical check after travelling to a safe place.
"In terms of Nigel's physical health, he will receive a full medical check once they are in a safe location," Ms Brennan said.
"As soon as he is safe and fit to fly he will be coming home."
Politicians and the Australian journalists' union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, welcomed news of the journalist's release.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh sent her best wishes to the journalist and his family, while Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said he was delighted with Mr Brennan's release.
"It's been a long, long travail for the family, so I just wish them all the best," he told reporters in Canberra.
"We've got all fingers crossed that very shortly they'll be reunited with their families."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was monitoring the situation "very closely", Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.
Jack Dempsey, the state MP for Bundaberg, where Mr Brennan grew up, said he was relieved to hear Mr Brennan had been freed.
"It's quite unbelievable ... it's like a whole sense of joy to hear the news and also a sense of relief for the community of Bundaberg as well as the family," he said.
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
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