Somalia: 2 Kidnapped Journalists Freed

A Canadian and Australian journalist were freed on Wednesday after more than a year in captivity, Somali officials said.

Police spokesman Col. Abdulhai Hassan Barise said Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian Nigel Brennan are at a Mogadishu hotel with Somali lawmaker Botan Isse Alin. Barise and Alin declined to say if ransom was paid for their release.

"We are happy. Our health is OK. We could not believe that we are free," Lindhout told The Associated Press on the phone. "Tonight is a big day for us. We sent our family and friends a message that we are free and will be with them soon after a long time in captivity."

"We are happy the two are released," said Alin.

The journalists were kidnapped last August along with their Somali driver and two Somali guards while traveling southwest of the capital.

Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted for ransoms in Somalia, one of the world's poorest and most war-torn countries. Foreign and local workers generally travel in convoys heavily guarded by freelance militiamen.

Somalia has been mired in anarchy and chaos since 1991 when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.