Canadian says Somalia kidnapping inflicted emotional scars

OTTAWA, Ontario – Former Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout says she has crippling flashbacks and sometimes wakes up screaming due to her kidnapping ordeal in Somalia.

At a sentencing hearing Wednesday for hostage-taker Ali Omar Ader, a tearful Lindhout said the sexual assault, beatings and emotional trauma she suffered in captivity filled her with pain and self-loathing.

Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were seized near Mogadishu in August 2008. Both were released in November 2009 in exchange for a ransom payment. Her story was published in the best-selling book "A House in the Sky."

Ader, a 40-year-old Somalian national, faces up to life in prison after being convicted of hostage-taking late last year.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith ruled that Ader was a "willing participant" in the kidnapping