A British journalist taken hostage in Iraq says his captors staged terrifying mock executions, putting unloaded guns to his blindfolded head and pulling the trigger.
James Brandon, who was snatched from his hotel in Basra on Thursday, also told how he had managed to escape from his kidnappers -- only to be seized again. He was freed on Friday nursing a black eye and bruises.
Recounting the 20-hour ordeal in a front-page article for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper for which he worked, Brandon said he was snatched by gunmen.
Brandon, 23, was pistol-whipped, then driven around Basra for 10 minutes before the kidnappers carried out the first in a series of mock executions.
"All I could feel was the cold steel of the muzzle of one my abductors' pistols being pressed to my temple," he wrote.
He said he was dumped blindfolded in a kitchen with his hands and feet tied. However, he worked off the loose blindfold, cut himself free using a knife he found and in "an Indiana Jones moment" fled the house after threatening a woman guarding him.
However, his freedom was shortlived as his kidnappers soon recaptured him at a government building where he had fled.
Brandon's kidnapping had attracted the attention of Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who ordered the Briton's release.
Hours later, sporting a badly-swollen eye and other bruises from beatings, he was handed over to Sadr's Basra office.
Brandon said he did not know who his kidnappers were but assumed they were Sadr supporters.
Recovering in Kuwait, Brandon said he wanted to return to Iraq.
"I have no desire to be the story again," he added.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS