The future of Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout remains unclear, even though a Somali journalist kidnapped along with her 177 days ago has been released.

Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi was freed by his captors late Thursday night. Lindhout’s location is a mystery.

Elmi and the driver were taken at gunpoint along with the 27-year-old Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan, 35, in August.

An international journalists’ organization warns that the release of some hostages does not mean the others will be set free any time soon.

“We would like to be very, very cautious about this,” said Ambroise Pierre with the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. “It would be too quick to think that because they were released that it’s good news for the two foreign journalists. Their situations are obviously very different.”

Elmi, speaking with Canwest News Service from the home he shares with his wife and daughter, said he had no hope of ever seeing his family again.

“No, no hope,” Elmi said Friday in a telephone interview. “They came to me and said to me, ‘Don’t talk (to anyone) about anything. You have to go.’ I am very happy. Very, very happy. Now I am free.”

He said he was kept blindfolded in a room alone, with none of his kidnappers speaking to him until the end of his captivity.

The group were on their way from Mogadishu to visit refugee camps in Afgoye, 25 kilometres west of the capital city.

Elmi said he had no information about the well-being or whereabouts of Lindhout, of Sylvan Lake, Alta., or Brennan because they were immediately separated after they were captured. He said he was not held hostage in the same location as the other two.

“When we were captured, we all shut our eyes, then we go to a place that I don’t know where I was, why we go there,” Elmi said. “I haven’t seen the other colleagues that were with me.”

He said he rarely heard the kidnappers talk about the two foreigners.

“I asked them: ‘Where are my colleagues?’ They couldn’t say,” he said. “Sometimes I hear that they are still alive, but I don’t know the reality.”

Pierre said that Elmi and a driver were released due to the work of a local tribal leader. In the case of Lindhout and Brennan, the demands would have been different and most likely difficult to meet.

“The negotiators are not the same ones. What they ask for from the negotiators is very different,” said Pierre. “What the good news today is that we know that Elmi was well-treated where he was kept. We can hope, it’s an argument for hope, that Lindhout and Brennan are also treated in good health.”

Elmi said he cannot identify his captors and added that although he was not assaulted during the ordeal, the men were heavily armed.

In September, a tribal chief negotiating the release of the journalists said the kidnap gang wanted a ransom of $2.5 million for the westerners, and said they would kill Lindhout after 15 days if the ransom wasn’t paid.

The deadline passed without any further communication.

Pierre said he hopes this new development will assist in further negotiations between the kidnappers and the Canadian and Australian governments.

“The bad news is that Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan are still being kept as hostages. The bad news is that we don’t have much news about their situation,” he said. “We will continue to communicate on this affair and try to get solid information. This is between the Somalia kidnappers and the foreign governments and we hope the best efforts will be made to find a good outcome to this situation.”

A Foreign Affairs spokesman said Ottawa had little to say about Elmi’s release.

“We are pleased that those seized with Ms. Lindhout and Mr. Brennan are reported to have been released. We continue to pursue all appropriate channels to seek further information about Ms. Lindhout’s welfare, and to assist the family in securing her safe release as well as that of Mr. Brennan,” said Daniel Barbarie.

“We will not comment or release any information which may compromise these efforts and jeopardize the safety of a Canadian or other citizen.”

Meanwhile, Briton Colin Freeman, a correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph, and Spanish freelance photographer Jose Cendon were also freed in Somalia on Thursday.

Freeman and Cendon were seized in November as they left a hotel. An official in the northern semi-autonomous province of Puntland said the two were released through the efforts of local elders.

Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted in Somalia, a country torn by unrest since 1991. Most kidnappings include ransom demands.

With a file from Jorge Barrera and AFP

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