Kenyan hospital releases Lindhout

A spokeswoman for Amanda Lindhout confirmed Tuesday that the freed Alberta journalist has been released from hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Lindhout has been in Nairobi since last week, when kidnappers in neighbouring Somalia freed her and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan.

Lindhout and Brennan were held for 15 months by Somali kidnappers who kept her in a dark room, tortured her and forced her to read scripted conversations to her mother, pleading for cash.

"I can confirm that Amanda has been released from full-time hospital care, however, there are no other updates to report in regards to her expected return to Canada," family spokesman Sarah Geddes said in an e-mail.

Lindhout--a freelance journalist originally from the Red Deer area-- said she knew little of her kidnappers, who abducted her group as they set out to tour a refugee camp near the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

Lindhout and Brennan's families paid a ransom reported to be between $600,000 and$1 million US. A Somali helper who was with Lindhout and Brennan was freed earlier.

Lindhout's family travelled to Kenya and met her in Nairobi when she arrived in the Kenyan capital a day after her release.

"They are taking it day by day and Amanda will return when she is ready. I can also confirm it won't be anytime soon," Geddes said.