TORONTO, Canada - Canadian aid worker Steven Dennis of Toronto recalled his recent abduction in Kenya as a "very bad weekend" and said he was very happy to be home."To be home is quite wonderful. I like Canada a lot," Dennis said at a news conference Sunday at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto.
Dennis, 37, was taken along with three other colleagues from the Norwegian Refugee Council — including Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, 38, from Gatineau, Que. — at a refugee camp in Kenya by armed gunmen and taken to Somalia.
"We were treated with a decent level of respect," recalled Dennis, who also said he was grateful for all the support he has received from the Council and the Canadian government.- The four were rescued in a daring mission involving Kenyan and Somali forces. Dennis said the rescue took place at about 6 a.m. Monday morning when his captors were gathering brush so the group could rest awhile, and to hide them from aerial surveillance.
- "They were out getting more branches, and then we heard running," he said. "There was quite a lot of gunfire."
- Dennis said he and his co-workers had talked about such a scenario and were prepared.
- "We were together and we laid down. We didn't know who this group was and we know there's different groups in the area."
- But one of the soldiers came over to the aid workers and uttered words in English to the effect of, "no ransom, rescue."
Dennis said he still doesn't know who the abductors were and emphasized the difficult living conditions at the Dadaab camp, which he said holds more than 460,000 people and is now the third largest "city" in Kenya."Aid has dried up for these people," Dennis said. "Our kidnapping emphasizes the difficulties that aid workers have in providing assistance to refugees and other people in need around the world.
Source: CBC
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