Amanda Lindhout, 28, and Nigel Brennen, 38, were released Wednesday morning by their captors in the capital Mogadishu. A source in the Somali government, who was privy to the case, confirmed that the two journalists were on their way to Nairobi.

“They looked extremely haggard, but relatively healthy and stable,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak on this delicate matter.

Lindhout and Brennen, along with a Somali journalist, were abducted on the 23^rd of August last year. On assignment with the French TV “France 24,” they were on their way to a town in southern Somalia for a story. Lindhout is an experienced journalist who has worked in troubled spots around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Abdifatah Elmi, the Somali journalist, who was released six months after the kidnapping, said a group of unknown militiamen stormed their car as they drove few miles south of Mogadishu. They blindfolded them and took them to a safe house in Mogadishu. Elmi said the militia quickly separated the three of them.

Their captors have issued varying demands over the past 15 months. A spokesman for the militiamen told the news media that they were demanding $2.5 million dollars. At one point, Lindhout and Brennen appeared on a home video broadcast on Al-Jazeera, the Arabic channel. In it, they pleaded with their families and governments “to do whatever is
in your capacity to free us.” Gun-toting militiamen appeared on that video.

Lindhout and Brennen’s prolonged captivity---and their subsequent release---is unusual, in that most hostage crisis in Somalia don’t drag that long. Both the Canadian and Australian governments, through their embassies in Nairobi, were intensely involved in the efforts to win the release of the two journalists.

It’s unclear whether ransom was paid, but the VOA source in the Somali capital said “the captors have been satisfied,” refusing to confirm or deny that a ransom was handed out.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous places for journalists in the world, especially for foreign reporters.