She was released 15 months later on November 25, 2009,[3] and has since embarked on a philanthropic career. Lindhout, now 36, was a seasoned traveller and budding freelance journalist when she and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were grabbed in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. Stewart advises the ex-hostages parents to be kind and gentle to themselves, not fight the torrent of conflicted emotions that might include immense sadness even though everyone is now safe. I found myself deeply moved, surprised yet again at the resiliency that she holds the ability to get through the impossible, Lindhout said about having read her mothers book. We always refer to this operation as the Hail Mary play, said an investigator with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who asked to remain anonymous as he continues to work undercover. I knew somehow at the deepest part of my being that if I chose forgiveness, that experience just would not have the power to crush me. Though, free her body was, Amanda's torturingmemories gave her goosebumps every time she recalled her past. Is that the better word? This brave, small-town mother with no experience in hostage . There, he confessed to his past all while hidden video cameras were rolling. But Lindhout and her mother say thatthere is a part of Canada's policy that needs to change. In her traveling, she faced various challanges and even threats to her own life. I felt betrayed in a lot of ways. But the story of how Canadian authorities found and trapped this kidnapper through an international sting operation sounds more like a dramatic Hollywood screenplay than a real-life investigation. The 40-year-old Somalian nationalwas found guilty on one charge of hostage-takingin December. I'm being kept in a dark, windowless, room in chains without any clean drinking water and little or no food. After being captured, Amanda was abused physically and mentally. Decided Not To Kill Herself Amid Torture. She also considered enrolling in a beautician's school. She asked Mohamed how he justified the injuries and deaths to civilians while a member of the insurgent group, but he instead addressed the political motives that drove him to join the outfit. Freed hostages Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan smile to photographers in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, on Nov. 26, 2009, after more than 400 days of brutal captivity. [4] The two were kidnapped in lieu of two more experienced journalists (one of whom was National Geographic Magazine reporter Robert Draper), who had that morning beefed up their security before leaving to examine a refugee camp. I've never questioned whether or not it was the right thing to do What else to do after the experience that I had, than something like this? LINDHOUT: I couldnt move, because my captors had wound a thick metal chain around my ankles, which they secured with heavy padlocks which remained on my ankles for the next ten-and-a-half months. And yet, she said, they lied to her at times, told her little, kept insisting she hold the faith because they were making progress. "It's so complicated, and people come to me expecting in a way that I would have a really clear answer about that," Lindhoutsaid. Sometimes it pull me out to sea and take me under. The two were released on Nov. 25, 2009 after 460 days in a homedescribed bySmithas "deplorable," where they were"shackled and held in small, dark, dirty, mold- and rat-infested conditions.". Lindhout's father had chronic health problems, and depended on disability payments. Time, coupled with therapy, would ultimately set her on a path to healing a still unfinished journey of which the book is a cathartic part. She is undoubetedly an inspiration to the people to move on with their life despite the hurting past. Lindhout and her mother are still working through the trauma of the kidnapping. And this is not Stockholm syndrome, and I am not saying that they were innocent at all, but that is just the truth of the situation. FAW: Now, looking back on that terrible ordeal, Lindhout remembers another turning point as she was being assaulted by two of her captors. Mine is nothing if not a story of survival. The heart wrenching plea was broadcast earlier today in Ontario. She indicated in the book that her motive for travelling to Somalia in the midst of an insurgency was the dearth of competition from other journalists covering the region, as well as the possibility of documenting unique human interest stories. In an interview thataired on Monday,Lindhout and her mother, Lorinda Stewart, talked to CBC'sThe Current host Anna Maria Tremonti about the agonizing phone conversations they had asLindhout after brutal treatment by her captorsbegged her motherto come up with the money that would set her free. ", Smith said he found Ader's defence that he was forced to act as the main negotiator and translatorin the hostage-taking "completely unbelievable.". The "worst call," they both agreed, happened after Lindhout had been held for more than a year. In November 2009, Lindhout was finally freed after her family, together with the family of her fellowcaptive, photographer NigelBrennan, managed to gatherabout $1million for ransom. Lindhout attempted to reconcile her fear of abduction with her deep commitment to helping the asylum seekers. "We are selling everything we can. The kidnappers' demand is simple: pay $2.5 million or Amanda will be killed. Amanda Lindhout's Early Life and Education She was born on 12 June 1981, in Red Deer, Alberta, USA. Amanda Lindhout and her mother Lorinda Stewart. The pair weresent to their respective places in hometown. Lindhout was born in 1981 in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. In the months she lived in darkness and in chains, she held onto her sanity by escaping to memories of her world travels, picturing the vivid images in the old issues of National Geographic she found while dumpster-diving as a child. It was supposed. [53] Lindhout's foundation aims to annually send 100 women in the country to university for the next four years,[4] and is sponsoring tertiary education for 36 women, who are expected to go on to become teachers, doctors, environmentalists and engineers, among other professions. When Stewart was desperately trying to raise money for her daughter's ransom, she said, she tried to do it quietlywithout media attention, because the RCMPsaid it wasillegal in Canada to pay ransom and it carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison although they also told herno one had ever been chargedwith the offence. Lindhout is serving as the executive director of the Global Enrichment foundation which she founded in 2010. LINDHOUT (reading from her book): In my mind I built stairways. [25] Following her release, Lindhout said she found the coverage of her hostage experience to be sensational. Her murder was imminent. Ali Omar Ader is currently sitting in a Canadian prison after being sentenced in 2018 for his role in the brutal 2008 kidnapping of Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout. Mike Le Couteur reports Oct 6, 2017, Click to share quote on Twitter: "I expected it to be this Hollywood moment where we would run into each other's arms laughing full of joy but the shock I felt when I saw Amanda - and she was just so skeletal and her eyes were haunted - it just wasn't that moment at all. Theyre more like a statement of gratitude for everything that I have, for my freedom now, for the ability to experience the beauty of the world again. Mother tells kidnapped Amanda about trying to raise $1 million ransom. "[32], Chris Selley of The National Post wrote that the book was "bloody good journalism". [35] It was also named the 2013 Best Book of the Year in the Biographies & Memoirs category by Amazon.com,[36] in addition to the Best Books of the Year list published by Vogue Magazine. I felt bitter, she said. Aug. 6, 2017 Best of NBC News Play All Early TODAY U.S. [10] She used her salary from the bar where she worked to finance reporting trips to various conflict zones around the world. Nor would it be right to assume the nightmare ended with their reunification. Ader acknowledged to undercover officers that he had received $10,000 for his role in the kidnapping. FAW: Briefly, Lindhout and Brennen tried to escape, fleeing to a local mosque where a single woman tried to help. The book becamethe New York Times bestseller and also the optionto become a major motion picture by Megan Ellison, with Rooney Mara playing the role of Amanda Lindhout. he wasarrested in Ottawa in June 2015. In 2008, Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped by a group of Somali teenagers and held captive for over 460 days. [55] The initiative received a US$1million donation from the Chobani Yoghurt company. On the mirror in my room was a small arrow-shaped sticker helpfully pointing the way toward Mecca. Amanda Lindhout wrote about her fifteen month abduction in Somalia in A House in the Sky.It is the New York Times bestselling memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world's most remote places and then into captivity: "Exquisitely toldA young woman's harrowing coming-of-age story and an . In June 2015, police in Ottawa arrested Adam Somali national Ali Omar Ader. Lindhout called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police right away, starting what would become a dramatic operation to bring the man to justice. After that, they heard a sound of a gunshot as they killed the woman, who was trying to save them. She wrote that she was instead taken to the Sadr Party Headquarters and questioned about her political affiliations, and that she was able to call an Iraqi friend who ensured they were released within the hour. He continued to participate willingly for this lengthy period knowing thatthe hostages continued to be held in terrible conditions. Speculating at her Instagram pictures, it is evident that Amanda is reviving her self from her dark past and relishing moments with her loved ones. Mother of Amanda Lindhout pens memoir describing nightmare of daughters kidnapping, Amanda Lindhout trial hears testimony about torture, Australian photographer Nigel Brennan testifies at the Amanda Lindhout kidnapping trial about the horrors he witnessed when they were both held hostage in Somalia. FAW: You flirted with the idea of suicide. Beaten, starved, gang-raped, horrifying story of woman who was held hostage with her boyfriend in Somalia for 15 months' Amanda Lindhout naively flew to the impoverished and volatile African . Physically I was in chains on the floor, and I had no power, no control over that, but I still had the power to choose my response to what was happening to me, to hold on to my own morals and my own values, Lindhout explains. Its what I call compassion in action and its really all about the choice that I make every day to forgive that allows me to step into this work. It was extremely distressful. In her new book 'One Day Closer,' Amanda Lindhout's mother recounts her struggle negotiating for her daughter's release after the Canadian journalist was kidnapped in Somalia in 2008. Amanda Lindhout and mom share painful phone call from captivity, RCMP charge Somali national Ali Omar Ader. Lindhout's mother's health deteriorated from the stress. At the end of the stairways, I imagined rooms. She later moved on to an assignment in Baghdad, Iraq in January 2008,[10] where she worked on a freelance basis for Iran's state television Press TV. While not party to the physical and mental abuse inflicted on Lindhout, Smith said, Aderwas motived by "greed" anddid nothing to stop the Islamic terrorists who abusedLindhout. good thing your PhD isnt in mental health or you would have a license revoked. [13] While in Iraq, reports indicated that Lindhout had been kidnapped in Sadr City. Mother of ex-hostage Amanda Lindhout speaks out on 'victim shaming,' Joshua Boyle and her 'disgust' with Ottawa Speaking to the Star Monday, Lorinda Stewart revealed behind-the-scenes details. [11], On August 23, 2008, two days after having arrived in Mogadishu, Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan, a 37-year-old freelance Australian photojournalist from Brisbane, were kidnapped along with their Somali translator, Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, their driver, Mahad Isse, and a driver from the Shamo Hotel, Marwali. Five times a day, the muezzins chanted and the prayers began. A select number of calls are now being released to the public for the first time. He is devastated. Her captors were frustrated that they had not received the ransom money they had demanded, Lindhout said, and she was tied up, gagged, tortured and assaulted for three straight days. The crashing reality of that moment it would take therapy and many months before the endless crying and depression began lifting is one of several that Stewart, 61, recounts in her just published memoir, One Day Closer, a harrowing, soul-baring account of her quest to get her daughter home a story that leaves the reader feeling aged with each page at the brutality of it all. The two women shared many phone calls throughout the nightmarish ordeal. Negotiating meant talking frequently with a man known to her as Adam the pipeline and lifeline to a daughter, whose protracted mistreatment was shocking to the point of sadistic. Amanda was born on 12 June 1981 in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. She said her 15 months in captivity left her suicidal, struggling with intense feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Her teeth, she said, were left a "broken mess" after her release. Royal Canadian Mounted Police via Reuters, exclusive new details about a dramatic sting operation for the first time with Kate Snow for Dateline., Undercover Agent Who Led the International Manhunt for Journalist Amanda Lindhout's Kidnapper Breaks His Silence, FULL EPISODE: Kidnapped: A Dateline Survivor Story. LINDHOUT: Right. Gone was not only the emotional support, but also the money the government gave her to devote herself to being a secret agent. Amanda Lindhout grew up rough. She said it took her years to find a suitable therapist to help her cope with her symptoms of severe anxiety and anti-social behaviour. At the end of the stairways I imagined rooms. "I can't help toobut think about what I went through and how lucky I am to be alive.". FAW: Using what she learned in the Quran, she pleaded for her freedom. and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were nabbed by masked gunmen near strife-ridden Mogadishu in August 2008 while pursuing a story. The rest of you is fine. She is widely known for her book A House in the sky: A Memoir, where she has written the experience and torture she felt when a Somalian terrorist group took her as well as her friends hostage. Raising ransom money also meant becoming the target of criticism from those who believed that paying off bandits only serves to encourage lawlessness. The investigator convinced him to meet in person in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean off of Africas east coast, to sign a book deal. Stretch Film Division. These moments were strangely private and public at the same time. She was raisedalong with her two brothers, Mark and Nathanielby their single mother, Lorinda. Once held hostage, she alleged that she and Brennan were forcibly separated since they were not married, and that she was subsequently repeatedly tortured and raped by her teenage captors. It worked, and Ader confessed to his participation in the kidnapping. 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