American Journalist Freed From Somali Pirates

American journalist Michael Scott Moore, held for more than two years
by Somali pirates, has been freed, Moore's family and a Somali
official told CNN on Tuesday.

"We are just elated," Marlis Saunders, Moore's mother, said in a brief
conversation. "It took a lot of work for us to get this point. And to
hear he is free -- just joyful, I can't describe it."

"All this is just so new," said Saunders, who lives in Redondo Beach,
California. "I did not have much time to talk with him. We just have a
lot of things to do and I cannot talk anymore. We need a little time
to evaluate all this."

The governor of Somalia's Mudug region, Ahmed Muse, told CNN that
local elders negotiated Moore's release, adding that the journalist is
"physically and mentally" worn out.

Moore boarded a plane at an airport in Galkayo, in the north-central
part of Somalia, Muse said.Muse would not say where the journalist is
headed.

"I'm absolutely thrilled," said Michel Todd, who was Moore's web
editor at Pacific Standard magazine. "It's like seeing somebody come
back from the dead. It's a marvelous resurrection."

Todd said Moore was a weekly freelance columnist who wrote often about
Somalia. He had been researching Somali pirates.

"As a news organization, we wanted to write about his capture," Todd
said. "But we had been encouraged by the FBI and State Department to
(not) write about it because this would hurt his cause. They said, if
you really care about the guy, that is not a good idea, raising his
profile would make his release more difficult."

Todd said Moore's stories suggested that illegal European fishing was
driving Somalis into piracy.

"Of all the people for the pirates to nab," he said. "He wasn't
necessarily a spokesman, but he was someone who was more amenable to
getting (the pirates') point across.

I'm not saying he was pro-pirate, but he was pro-truth and that seemed
like something that might have been helpful to Somalis."

Maria Streshinsky, editor of Pacific Standard, said, "We are thrilled,
but it has been really far too long. It's been such a worrisome
situation. We are just elated. We may have a toast and a beer in his
honor. I hope he is healthy."

Pacific Standard is a publication of the Miller-McCune Center for
Research, Media and Public Policy, a California-based nonprofit.
PSmag.com claims to reach nearly one million readers each month with
research-based articles about the social sciences,

Moore's mother declined to comment when asked if a ransom was paid for
her son.Muse said he did not know if a ransom was paid.

In lawless Somalia, it's common -- particularly among pirates -- that
people are kidnapped and their freedom negotiated for ransom. The
pirates operate in the Gulf of Aden, one of the globe's most
trafficked shipping waterways.

The U.S. State Department confirmed in January 2012 that officials had
spoken with Moore's family and been in touch with contacts in Kenya
and Somalia to get more information.

The department noted at the time that a travel warning for Somalia
cautioned U.S. citizens of the risks of traveling to the country and
recommended avoiding it.