A Canadian freelance journalist kidnapped more than a year ago in war-ravaged Somalia has been moved by her captors to an even more remote location, say two organizations following the case.

Amanda Lindhout of Sylvan Lake, Alta., was abducted at gunpoint on Aug. 23, 2008, along with Australian photographer Nigel Brennan as they travelled to interview residents of a refugee camp near Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Lindhout and Brennan had been held in a northern district of Mogadishu throughout most of their captivity, but it now appears security fears motivated their captors to move them to another location, according to Reporters Without Borders and the Associated Somali Journalists.

Lindhout and Brennan were moved about 120 kilometres south of Mogadishu about six weeks ago, said Ambroise Pierre, who heads the Africa desk for Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, on Tuesday.

“It is true that Lindhout and Brennan are not in Mogadishu,” said Pierre. “They were not moved several times; they were moved once. Exactly where, we cannot say.”

Pierre said he believed intense fighting in Mogadishu this summer convinced the kidnappers to find a quieter and safer place.

Dahir Abdulle Alasow, who runs a Somali news website and the Associated Somali Journalists, said Tuesday his information indicates the kidnappers moved Lindhout and Brennan because they feared they were being tracked by Canadian officials.

“They moved from the city for security reasons,” said Alasow, in an e-mail from Belgium. “The kidnapper’s chief . . . told one of my colleagues that the Canadian government used what he called GPS and, after the air attack of Saleh Nabhan, they decided to move.”

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, an al-Qaida militant fighting alongside the homegrown Islamic insurgent group al-Shabab, was killed Sept. 14 by U.S. Special Forces in southern Somalia. Nabhan’s vehicle was raked by machine-gun fire from helicopters launched from U.S. ships offshore.

While several Westerners have been kidnapped in Somalia recently, none has been held as long as the two journalists.

“This affair has lasted too long,” said Pierre. “Compared to other recent kidnappings, this is absolutely unique.”

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Source: Ottawa Citizen

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