The non-profit Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is reminding folks to sign their petition calling for the release of Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and her 3 colleagues, who were kidnapped near Mogadishu, Somalia last month. Ms. Lindhout was working for a French TV news station when she was abducted by unknown assailants. [This photo of Ms. Lindhout is taken from her LightStalkers page.]Al Jazeera broadcast a video 2 weeks ago showing Ms. Lindhout being held at gunpoint, allegedly by members of the al-Qaeda-linked group Mujahedeen of Somalia.
Reporters Without Borders in Montreal say that Ms. Lindhout's kidnappers have demanded $2.5 million for her release.
There's a blog out there devoted to the cause of freeing Ms. Lindhout, and an interesting background article in the National Post.
On a related note, November 18 will mark the 10-year anniversary of the slaying of Tara Singh Hayer, the Sikh-Canadian journalist murdered in B.C. for whom CJFE names its annual Press Freedom award.
