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A Canadian freelance journalist who was held by kidnappers for 15 months in Somalia seven years ago said that the Somali man arrested by Canadian police last week terrorised her mother by barraging her with threatening telephone calls with ransom demands.
Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were kidnapped by gunmen on August 23, 2008. They were released in November 2009 after a US$600,000 ransom was paid.
Police said Ali Omar Ader, who was arrested on Thursday in Ottawa, was one of the main negotiators within the group that carried out the kidnapping. Lindhout called her kidnappers criminals seeking to collect a ransom payment.
Police suggested that Ader was lured to Canada before being arrested but declined to reveal how he arrived in Canada.
Lindhout released a statement on Sunday in which she said Ader "terrorised my mother, phoning her multiple times a day and at all hours".
She later elaborated on her statement. She said she crumpled to the floor, crying, as police investigators broke the news to her about the arrest of her alleged Somali kidnapper.
Lindhout said she and her family now feel a tremendous sense of relief.
"[Ader]was a deranged man in many ways," Lindhout said.
The two journalists were kept apart from each other, beaten and tortured. Lindhout also reported being raped but not by Ader, whom she knew as Adam while in captivity. She called him erratic and bullying.


Canadian journalist reflects on 15-month ordeal following arrest of Somalian kidnapper

Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner James Malizia (left) and Inspector Paul Mellon speak at a press conference at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, about the arrest of a Somali man Ali Omar Ader, shown on the screen, for his involvement in the kidnapping of Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan. Photo: AP

Amanda Lindhout in 2010. Photo: AP

Somali national Ali Omar Ader

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