Amanda Lindhout Speaks Out: Previously Kidnapped Humanitarian And Journalist Talks About Ali Omar Ader Arrest By RCMP In Facebook Post

In a lengthy Facebook post Sunday Canadian humanitarian and journalist Amanda Lindhout described her thoughts after hearing that Ali Omar Ader, the man alleged to have been the leader of the group that kidnapped her, had been arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Lindhout was taken while in Somalia by Ader, who she said she knew by the name Adam. Ader, a Somali national who RCMP officials say led the 2008 kidnapping of Lindhout and her Australian colleague, photojournalist Nigel Brennan, was found in Canada Thursday and charged.

“I did not see a photo of Ali Omar Ader until the next morning. I find it difficult to describe what it felt like to see his face again,” Lindhout wrote. “It brought up anger, fear, confusion, and also—knowing that he no longer poses a threat to me or to anyone else—a sense of relief.”

Ader, 37, was arrested by the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET). The RCMP allege he was the "main negotiator" in the hostage-taking of Lindhout and he has been charged under Sec. 279.1(2) of Canada’s Criminal Code, which deals with hostage-taking, according to the Canadian Broadcasting. He made a court appearance by video conference Friday morning. His case was held Friday and he remains in custody in Ottawa.

Lindhout described Ader as “erratic and bullying and fully complicit in my suffering.

“It was he who collected the contact information for our families and who made most of the calls to them over the course of the next 14 and a half months, demanding that a ransom be paid,” she wrote in the post. “He terrorized my mother, phoning her multiple times a day and at all hours.”

Lindhout struck a tone of hope at the conclusion of the post, saying that Ader's fate "has nothing to do with mine."

"I’m grateful that this man has been arrested," she wrote. "I am happy that he will be called upon in court to answer for his role in the kidnapping. My healing and recovery, however, has never been contingent on this form of justice. I’ve spent the last couple of days feeling extremely emotional about the arrest, contending with the brutal memories it calls up. But losing my freedom in Somalia taught me a lot about how to get it back. Every day, I make the choice to move forward and to remember that true power is derived from kindness. In the end, Ali Omar Ader’s fate has nothing to do with mine."