Ali Omar Ader found guilty in Lindhout kidnapping case

OTTAWA — Ali Omar Ader has been found guilty in the kidnapping of Amanda Lindhout in Somalia.

The verdict was handed down Wednesday by Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith, who presided over Ader’s 10day trial.

Lindhout was a freelance journalist from Red Deer, Alta., when she and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were seized by armed men near Mogadishu in August 2008, the beginning of 15 months in captivity. Both were released upon payment of a ransom. Ader, a 40-year-old Somalian national, had pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge of hostage-taking. Evidence during the trial revealed that an RCMP undercover officer lured Ader to Canada on the pretext of signing a lucrative book deal.