$1.4m ransom paid by family to free hostages

Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan says he and his companion were kept isolated and tortured during the 15 months they were held captive in the troubled African country of Somalia.

Brennan says he is okay after he and Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout were released yesterday, with their families reportedly paying kidnappers a US$1 million ($1.4 million) ransom.

The pair were captured on August 23, 2008, when they were en route from Mogadishu to visit a refugee camp in Afgooye, a town just outside the capital.

Brennan, 37, said the 15-month experience had "been pretty arduous", with the pair suffering physical and mental torture.

"Locked in a room, very little light ... You know, simple things like being told not to smile, not to laugh - not that there was much to laugh about," he said from his hotel in Mogadishu.

"Being pistol-whipped is sort of torture, being completely stripped of everything and then locked in a room, no one to speak to, is a form of torture, really."

Brennan said he and Lindhout - who were held separately - had no idea they were about to be released before being "ripped out of our rooms".

"[We were] stripped of everything, told to put on new clothes and then thrown in a car and then driven - we had no idea what was going on," he said.

Lindhout told Canadian television she was beaten and tortured, and kept in oppressive conditions, during her long confinement.

"Basically, my day was sitting in a corner, on the floor, 24 hours a day for the last 15 months," she said.

"There were times that I was beaten, that I was tortured. It was an extremely, extremely difficult situation."

Brennan's family said they were overwhelmed by news of his release but added he would not be out of danger until he left Somalia.