Alberta freelancer in captivity calls TV station
August 7, 2009
- Posted by Regan Ray
Amanda Lindhout, a freelance journalist from Sylvan Lake, Alta., called OMNI TV on Monday pleading for help almost one-year after being kidnapped in Somalia, The Globe and Mail reports.
According to the report Lindhout told OMNI:
"I don't want to die here and I'm afraid I'll die in captivity if I don't get help soon. I don't know how much longer I can bear this...My government must have some duty to help me. I love my country and I want to return so I'm begging, I'm begging my government to come to my aid."
Lindhout, 28, was captured near the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, along with Australian photographer, Nigel Brennan, in August. A local translator and driver were also taken, but were later released.
Rumours have been circulating that Lindhout is pregnant (or has given birth to a boy), but no Western source has confirmed the information.
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Sometimes it seems like it's only the people who know her, and just a few fellow journalists, who care about what is happening to this woman. Is this because she's a journalist -- and is it worse because she's a freelancer?
If they'd kidnapped a young diplomat or politician or high-ranking bureaucrat this situation would be a national obsession.