Updated: Wed Nov. 25 2009 17:20:50

ctvcalgary.ca

Canadian freelance journalist, Amanda Lindhout, was released in Somalia on Wednesday after 15 months in captivity.

Lindhout, 28, was kidnapped along with Nigel Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist, and Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, a Somali journalist, in Somalia on August 23, 2008.

In a telephone interview with CTV News Channel, Lindhout said she had been released for only a few hours and was now safe in a hotel in the capital city of Mogadishu.

The trio of journalists was on their way to a refugee camp when they were ambushed and taken by a group of gunmen.

Lindhout told CTV's Dan Matheson that they were moved often during their capture.

Video of Lindhout aired several times on Al Jazeera and her captors had publicly demanded a $1 million ransom for her release.

Lindhout's family and friends worked to get her released while trying to keep her name out of the media.

The Canadian government has a policy against paying ransoms or negotiating with terrorists so it was up to the family to try and come up with the money.

Friends held a series of fundraisers but never said they were doing it to free Amanda Lindhout but of course those who attended the events knew where the money was going.

Publically there was never any indication that the money raised by friends would be going to help Lindhout because the group holding her and Brennan were internet savvy and the information could have affected her situation.

Lindhout's parents also worked behind the scenes with current and retired politicians to secure her release.

Some of Lindhout's family lives in the Sylvan lake area and she grew up and went to school in Red Deer.