Kidnapped Western Journalists in Somalia Freed, Arrive in Kenya; Questions Linger

1) Was their assignment critical? 2) Were they naïve? 3) Will they get book deals out of this mess? 4) Will their ordeal be made into a movie?

[Pictures Credit:  the Jawa Report blog -- Australian Nigel Brennan, left, and Canadian Amanda Lindhout -- a former model and make-up artist, right, in undated photos looking pretty, happy, healthy and possibly quite naïve, taken prior to their '08 abduction.]

[Picture credit:  Canadian-based blogger/still image of video footage obtained by Al Jazeera in July '09 -- Lindhout at left, Brennan at right ... Gunmen are unseen in the background, huddled behind the two.]

DATELINE AT LARGE (DM) -- The pair of lucky Western freelance journalists -- one a writer/reporter and the other a photojournalist -- who were freed in Somalia after a nightmare experience on Wednesday arrived safely at Wilson Airport in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in a chartered plane on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian reporter and apparently a former waitress, model and make-up artist prior to becoming a journalist (as reported by the CBC), and Nigel Brennan, an Australian photojournalist who never sold a photo to a major outlet, had arrived in Mogadishu (video), Somalia's apocalyptic and bullet-pocked capital, in August 2008 to report on the plight of hundreds of thousands of displaced Somalis squatting on the city's outer fringes because of fighting between several militarized groups, including Al Shabaab and the Ethiopian Army.

The story has been well reported on over the duration of their captivity (most particularly -- and quite comprehensively, by the journos-at-large cooperative blog/site, Frontline Club). 

However, one question continued to make the rounds in journalist, aid worker and diplomatic circles:  "Did they know what they were getting into?"  The resounding answer, privately, to this question among these circles has been, "No."

It is understood by DM through multiple sources that neither of the pair had been to Mogadishu before.  At the time they undertook the assignment, on a freelance-pitched basis for the Paris-based France 24 English, the country was ratcheting upward off of the danger scale and was considered a no-go zone for most Western aid workers and journalists.  Though one of the two had worked in Iraq and Afghanistan before (Lindhout), for example, they were apparently unprepared for dealing with the second-by-second, anything-can-happen-at-anytime atmosphere of the chaotic Horn of Africa nation, especially its seaside capital city.

At the onset of their capture by the kidnappers, the rumor mill in Nairobi centered on the potential recklessness of the pair's decision to go to Mogadishu with no prior experience there and no emergency parachute to take advantage of, as most staff correspondents and shooters with the major newspapers and wire services have, in terms of cash and clout.  Although that doesn't always mean much, as was the case with veterans Colin Freeman and Jose Cendon, who were held for 40 days while on assignment for the English newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.

When reporting in Somalia today, journalists require heavy backing by their representative news outlet and CASH -- lots of it.  The money is needed to hire a virtual Guns-of-Navarone security detail, mostly freelance guns for hire.  (Check out this April '09 piece in Foreign Policy magazine by New York Times East Africa correspondent/bureau chief Jeffrey Gettleman, headlined 'The Most Dangerous Place in the World.')

In somewhat the same fashion as the two Current TV reporters, who admitted wrongdoing in their decision to cross the border from China into North Korea and ignored the warnings, Lindhout and Brennan pushed forward, thinking they wouldn't be one of the Western-journalist casualties, like veteran journos of Somalia Hansi Krauss, Kate Peyton, Martin Adler (picture), and many more ... not to mention the Somali journalists who have paid the ultimate price in performing their duties.

[Check out these two guys -- Western freelance "journalists" -- who sold a larger video piece to Current TV, but cut out a "side" project on how easy it is to buy guns in Mogadishu (DM editorial note:  these guys represent what not to do in Mogadishu)... and by the way, Euna Lee, one of the two Current TV gals who had to be saved by Clinton, has signed a book deal, beating her co-captivity partner to the punch.]

But there was no Billy Boy Clinton coming to Lindhout's and Brennan's rescue -- no big-wig former prime ministers or leaders from their countries stepped up to the plate to make the public attempt to free them.  In fact, the Australian and Canadian embassies in Nairobi were coming under increasing pressure to do something about the situation, as were their leaders in Ottawa and Canberra.

Then, out of the blue, some people came to Lindhout's and Brennan's rescue.  Various reports, yet to be truly confirmed, say that something between $500,000 to $1 million ransom was paid for the pair's release.  (Now it's come out that the parents of both Brennan and Lindhout may have borrowed money and took loans against their homes to reach the amount needed to bail the pair out of their debacle, in addition to the kindness of an Australian millionaire.)

For the moment, the two can get healthy again, and find a publisher to tell sell their harrowing-and-daring story to for a six-figure advance payday!  Good luck, Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan.

DM caveat:  It could have happened to anyone, really, but freelancers are at particular risk.  Somalia is in a state of anarchy and until its problems are addressed, on land, rather than at sea, it will remain the case study and poster child of failed states (FP magazine lists it as #1 in the world in their 2009 index). 

UPDATE, November 30, 9:12 am:  The New York Times and The Star (Toronto) have also written pieces similar to the post above by DM, published today and yesterday, respectively.

Exclusive Interview with Photojournalist Tim Freccia

Drifter Media took time to sit down with veteran freelance videographer and photojournalist, Tim Freccia, in Nairobi, Kenya this weekend before he flew into Somalia on assignment.

[Photo credit:  Drifter Media© archives -- Tim Freccia (Twitter account), seen at center left and holding camera, and Horeb Bulambo, center right, while working in the DR Congo in November 2008.]

[Photo credit:  Tim Freccia© -- Mount Nyiragongo volcano steams in the background while security guards protect Congolese President Joseph Kabila as he stands at attention for the national anthem in the eastern provincial capital, Goma. Kabila toured North Kivu Province in early 2009.]

DM:  You started out as a videographer/documentary guy, didn't you?  But you've made the switch to mostly still photography -- is that correct?  If so, why?  Is there more "work" out there for stills?

TF:  No -- I started out as an Alaska fisherman, then went to school for still photography.  I bought an Olympus Rangefinder at a garage sale when I was six years old.  I started working as a shooter while in school, and by the time I got out in the late 1980s I wanted to shoot motion pictures.  I started working as a professional photographer in 1987, and kept going. One of my first gigs was in Haiti, and soon after that I went to work in West Africa.  I've been doing both ever since.  Most of my work over the last two decades has been video, though over the last five years, or so, I've gravitated back more toward stills.  There are a lot of reasons for this, but one of them definitely isn't that "there's more work."

I'm shooting more stills because it's where I started and I miss the simplicity of telling a story with a single image (or series of images).  Up until very recently it was very difficult to bill myself as a "dual shooter."  There really haven't been that many shooters who do both (Mohamed Amin was one who did), and it usually confused people.  Now, editors want shooters who can do both, and I'm particularly suited for these projects.

[Tim Freccia©:  Ethnic Somali Kenyans in the dusty, drought-stricken northeastern town of Garissa in early 2009.  The pastoralist community in that area has been severely impacted by five years of little to no rain.]

DM:  You seem to have a preference for black and white photography ... do you think that black and white is ever "overused" by shooters?  Do you prefer it, overall, to color?  If so, why?

TF:  I'm not a "B&W" shooter or a "color" shooter.  I make photographs.  I started shooting on black and white film (hand rolled) because I couldn't afford chrome.  I processed my own film in the hotel bathroom in Haiti during Aristide's ouster.  Like I said before, I miss the simplicity, and I like the graphic quality of grayscale images.  As far as "overused" is concerned -- I'm not sure what you're asking, but maybe people are using B&W to cover bad images.  Color can be overwhelming in some instances or enchanting in others. If it's a great photograph, it's great.  If it sucks, B&W won't make it better.

[Tim Freccia©:  An FARDC (Congolese government army) soldier runs into enemy fire during a final advance against CNDP rebels, north of Goma, DRC, November 2008.]

DM:  Where have you been working over 2008 and 2009?  Anything already on the books for 2010?

TF:  I spent 2008 in Cambodia and then the last part covering Eastern DR Congo.  I've spent 2009 almost exclusively in East and Central Africa.  I'm booked pretty much up to Christmas, and then most of the first part of the New Year.

DM:  Who have you been working for lately (and over the course of your career)?  We also know you've been doing work for aid groups and media outlets ... do you have a preference to either?  Which pays better?  We also noticed you had a feature spread in The New York Times recently ... what was that story like?

TF:  Basically, I've billed myself as a "Media Mercenary" for 20 years.  I like to shoot either stills or motion pictures.  I spent about 10 years in Europe acting as a creative director and doing commercial and interactive stuff.  Over the years I've worked for a ton of media outlets and NGOs, as well as commercial work for big multinationals like Unilever.  I just did a story for BusinessWeek in Kisumu, Kenya; the story for NYT with Jeffrey Gettleman was great.  The Ogiek are an interesting tribe that face extinction, and the Mau Forest in Kenya is beautiful.  The NGOs don't really pay more, but I like doing the work to balance out the more "merc" stuff.

[Tim Freccia©:  A boy butcher in Kiwanja, DRC, where a massacre of civilians happened at the hands of CNDP rebels in November 2008.]

DM:  Is it getting better or harder for freelancers in Africa? Are you able to sustain yourself and family?

TF:  I'm probably not the best person to ask this question.  I'm able to sustain my family and myself, but that doesn't mean everyone can.  On the other hand, I believe that if you are talented and remain diligent, Africa has a lot to offer in terms of opportunity.  It's a huge continent, full of amazing people and stories.  Like my mom says:  "Do what you love, the money will follow."

DM:  What gear do you use?

TF:  Anything that works.  I've worked with probably every major system made in the last 50 years.  I started on a Nikon system and switched to Canon when the EOS system came out.  For a long time I shot everything on Pentax 6x7.  At the moment I'm shooting Nikon and a Panasonic HVX, though I'm starting to work more and more with video capable DSLRs.

[Tim Freccia©:  Police beat a street boy accused of stealing a cell phone in Goma, DRC.]

DM:  Do you have any advice for fresh young photographers aspiring to do the work you are doing?

TF:  Don't walk, run to a psychotherapist and seek help and/or medication immediately (if you think you want to do this stuff for a living).  Just kidding -- my advice is the same as my mom's, which I already mentioned.  I'd say don't get into this for the money.  There isn't very much anyway, but you can do well at times.  If you're doing it for the money (which you have to at times) you won't be able to go that far.  Another thing I say is don't get into it for "the adventure" -- you'll become jaded and will miss the point.  If you aren't
passionate about *making* images (as opposed to *taking* them), then this isn't the right field for you.

Maybe my best piece of advice is to look at other photographers' work and show them yours. Despite all the "di** swinging" that goes on in the business, it's a creative process full of creative people, and it's good to bounce ideas off friends. If you isolate (yourself), you'll become creatively constipated.  On the other hand, if you spend too much time socializing, you'll become boring, fat and ugly.  Don't over plan projects and don't drop into a place without knowing anything about it.  A poor workman blames his tools.  Keep the sticky side down and the shiny side up.  Don't eat (that) yellow snow.

Kenyan Capital Braces for Possible al Shabaab Attacks: Sources

[Photo credit:  Drifter Media© archives (Afghanistan)]

DATELINE AT LARGE (DM) -- Somali-based al Shabaab rebels and/or sympathisers are planning an attack, or attacks, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in the coming days, according to sources who attended an emergency meeting on Monday called by the U.S. Foreign Service.  (Those sources are not named here and are being protected by Drifter Media as they were not authorised to communicate with the media.)

One Drifter Media source said that security officials with the U.S., French, British and Canadian embassies in Nairobi, along with United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) personnel, are on high alert for potential vehicle-borne (VBIED), suicide-style bombing attacks by al Shabaab against both "local and Western targets" in Nairobi.

The U.S. Embassy is listed as a prime target.  Other targets include the compounds for the UN's DSS- and World Food Program-Somalia offices, located on the same block as the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi's Gigiri district, which is frequented by Western diplomats and aid workers.  It is also a heavily-trafficked thoroughfare for both pedestrians and vehicles.  (Get more info here about the U.S. Embassy bombing attack in Nairobi on August 7, 1998 that killed 213 people.  A simultaneous bombing occured in the Tanzanian capital that day, killing another 78.)

[Photo credit: Provided to Drifter Media's 'Intelligence Unit' by anonymous source working in Somalia ... al Shabaab members pray at an open-air gathering in Mogadishu several weeks ago.]

Also listed on the al Shabaab-Nairobi targets list is the headquarters for Kenyan police and security forces.  Drifter Media has agreed not to hyperlink that location here in cooperation with the news tipsters.

In the emergency meeting in Nairobi, the sources said three vehicles have been rented by suspects currently under Western intelligence and Kenyan police surveillance.

Below is the leaked report (cut and pasted) from Monday's emergency meeting in Nairobi.  (FYI -- it is riddled with grammatical errors):
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US Intel, Restricted

Desemination on approval only

Not for release

No Copy No open line coms

As of November 15, 10-12 individuls associated with Al Shabaab (see Somalia files), planning on carrying out attacks in Nairobi Kenya against local and westren targets. Targets include US. Embassy, United Nations operations relating to Somalia (DSS and WFP secificly named,) and Headquarters for unidentified Kenyan police and security forces. Attacks will be of Suicide in nature, three vehicals have been rented by suspects under watch. Attack is thought to be of VBIED in nature.

Capability: Insurgent forces have received extensive help from foreign personal. Results are inconsistant. Bombings in Hargysa and Bosasso a year ago showed a relitivly complex bomb signature, recent attacks on AMISOM in Mog, showed a simpile design relying on presure build up with in the armored vehicals for maximum effect. Bombers have included personal with US passports, however their role so far is beleived to be in delivery and not in construction. (see memorandom concerning Somali diaspora dated 12/1/09)

Credibility is considered high as person under survailance by local forces, and ellude said forces and are their whereabouts is no longer known.
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