VOA标准英语2009-Freed Western Journalists Leave Somalia

Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan flew out of Mogadishu on a chartered plane Wednesday, 15 months after they were kidnapped by gunmen on a road outside of Mogadishu.

Alisha Ryu | Nairobi 26 November 2009

Freed hostage journalists Canadian Amanda Lindhout, left, and Australian Nigel Brennan, sit together after their release from captivity¹, in Mogadishu, Somalia, 26 Nov 2009

Two Western freelance journalists have been flown to Nairobi, Kenya after being freed by their kidnappers² in Somalia late Wednesday.  The pair endured months of mental and physical anguish³ while their captors demanded a ransom⁴ payment for their release.

Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan flew out of Mogadishu on a chartered plane Wednesday, 15 months after they were kidnapped by gunmen on a road outside of Mogadishu. 

The kidnappers reportedly handed over the journalists to four members of Somalia's transitional federal government late Wednesday at a security checkpoint in the capital.  Details of the release have not been made public.

In a subsequent interview with Canadian Television, Lindhout described her life in captivity as "extremely difficult."   Ten months ago, the pair tried to escape, but they were quickly recaptured.   The journalists were separated and kept most of the time chained up in a dark, windowless room.

As negotiations⁵ for their release dragged on, Lindhout says she was routinely beaten and forced to call her mother by phone to plead for payment.   She says her captors insisted that $1 million was not an unreasonable⁶ amount because they believed everyone in Canada was wealthy.

In a separate interview with Reuters new agency, Brennan said he, too, was kept in chains and was pistol-whipped by his captors.  He said he and Lindhout were held by the same people who kidnapped them.  But he said he feared that the gunmen would lose patience and sell them to al-Shabab, a militant⁷, al-Qaida-linked Islamic group that controls parts of Mogadishu.  There are unconfirmed reports that al-Shabab had offered the kidnappers as much as half-a-million dollars for the pair.

The governments of Canada and Australia have a strict policy against making ransom payments.  Several months ago, the family of Nigel Brennan expressed their frustration⁸ to the media in Australia, saying that little progress was being made to secure the release of the journalists. 

On Thursday, Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke refused to comment on reports that a ransom of as much as $700,000 was eventually paid to the kidnappers.

The prime minister says his government sends its gratitude⁹ to those involved in the negotiations for the journalists' release.   He says it is not, however, appropriate to talk about whether a ransom payment was made.

An international security analyst¹⁰ with experience in kidnapping and ransom negotiations in Somalia tells VOA that an undisclosed amount of money was raised by the families of the victims, and subsequently paid through local Somali contacts. 

Somalia remains¹¹ one the most of the dangerous places in the world for journalists.  Eighteen journalists have been killed there since 2005, hit by stray bullets or targeted by assassins.  In recent years, there have been several attempted and successful kidnappings of western journalists in southern Somalia and in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland. 

1 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

2 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

4 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。