Former captive says gift of gab freed him from his Beirut hell
AN Irish UN worker who was kidnapped in Beirut more than 20 years ago has revealed how his Irish 'gift of the gab' helped to win over his captors and secure his release.
Aidan Walsh, a former deputy director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) responsible for the welfare of Palestinian refugees in the Lebanon, said he believed his kidnappers let him walk free, not because of diplomatic pressure, but because of the bond that developed between them during his captivity.
The Dublin-based relief worker, originally from Templeogue, was kidnapped on May 15, 1985 after his car was forced to a halt on West Beirut's Corniche coastal road. He was removed from the vehicle at gunpoint by a number of unidentified men wearing camouflage uniforms and held for 37 hours before being released.
Mr Walsh, who was once described by internationally renowned journalist Robert Fisk as "one of the most popular guys in the Lebanon" said his attempts to make conversation with his captors, although hampered by the language barrier, were eventually rewarded.
"They didn't speak a word of English and I had almost no Arabic, just enough to order a beer, the essential parts of the language, you know," he joked.
And he described how he used his Irish charm to build up a rapport with his captors, which would eventually save his life.
"I tired to engage them by asking if they were still going to school or university and they were saying that there was no chance they'd ever be able to go because they didn't have that kind of money," he recounted. "And I got them talking about their own country and asked them to describe it to me." He added: "I built up a very slight bond, which was obviously effective because they let me go."
The UN worker said that in addition to his Irish nationality and the widespread help from the Irish media and government at the time, many friends have since told him his chatty nature helped to set him free.
"A lot of my friends told me afterwards that they always knew I'd talk my way out. But it's not just a joke. I think in those kinds of circumstances you can often do that. I think, to some extent, the guards became sympathetic towards me in the end."
However, to this day, Mr Walsh said he was saddened by the likely fate of his two guards who eventually let him go, but paid the price for that.
"I feel enormously sympathetic with them and their families because they are just people who are trapped by circumstances," he said. "They had begun to question why they should kill somebody like me, who seemed to be completely innocent and was concerned about their welfare.
"I knew from several sources afterwards that these lads were sent out to kill me, not to turn me loose, which they did. I was told later by several different sources that my release was treated very seriously by their employers. I heard that these guys had gotten into an awful lot of trouble over it and that they had actually been shot for letting me go."
Mr Walsh spoke of his ordeal as part of a new series titled Hostage which will air on RTE 1 tonight at 7pm. The series covers the stories of Irish people who have been kidnapped at home or abroad.
Other participants include Fiona Quinn and Mary Coen, two Irish nurses who were working in Ethiopia with Concern when they were kidnapped by a liberation movement, and comedian Noel Ginnity who was held hostage in his Dun Laoghaire home for a cash ransom.
- NIAMH HORAN
