17/09/08 (B465-B) Press TV / Les kidnappeurs de deux journalistes canadiens et australiens et d’un accompagnateur somalien accusent le Canada et l’Australie de complicité dans le conflit somalien. Somali kidnappers blame Canada, Aussie

Kidnappers of Canadian and Australian journalists have accused Ottawa and Canberra of being accomplices in the Somali conflict.

Mujahideen of Somalia who seized the journalists last month accused Canada and Australia of ‘taking part in the destruction of Somalia’, according to a video aired by Al Jazeera television on Tuesday.

The video showed Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan who were kidnapped by gunmen near Mogadishu on Aug. 23.

It showed Lindhout, wearing an Islamic robe, and her colleague along with armed Islamic forces. She was speaking to a camera but the tape’s audio was not aired.

The kidnappers also demanded that Canada and Australia review their policies towards the African country, the television said.

Last week, an official of the group Reporters Without Borders said that the kidnappers were seeking $2.5 million for the return of the captives.

The Canadian national Amanda Lindhout formerly reported for Press TV from Baghdad.

Lindhout’s fearless reporting from Baghdad for the Iran-based news channel shed light on the intense poverty and political alienation experienced by the population of Baghdad’s Sadr City.

With photographer Brennan, Lindhout had taken the road from the Somali capital Mogadishu to the nearby city of Afgoye where they were planning to visit a refugee camp.