There had only been one incident in all the years the company had been there. Plus, his company provided him with full Kidnap and Ransom insurance.


As an IT programmer, he did not consider himself a valuable person to kidnap; he thought, “I am not a target, I am worthless, a nobody, no value.” Unfortunately, it turned out, this was not the case.


The kidnap


Peter’s day began in an unsettling way on the 29th May 2007: on the journey to his office, there was an unusually large number of police vehicles on the main road to the Red Zone where he worked. But he kept quiet, as dictated by the security protocols during journeys, something he was later to regret.


He arrived at the Ministry of Finance and began training a small group about an IT tool. An hour later, without warning, men dressed as police officers from the Ministry of the Interior barged into the room. One of them put a gun to his head and said, “Come on.”


On the way out, he realised his security team had also been taken: the first two who had been positioned outside his door and the other two from the car parked outside. They were downstairs surrounded by police officers. Peter asked, “What should I do?” and the team leader told him, “Do whatever they say.” At this point, Peter still believed his security team would effect an escape, that their military training would enable them to overcome their kidnappers: “I never anticipated the security team getting abducted.” Unfortunately, this Hollywood- inspired version of events is not what transpired.


Peter was put in the back of a police vehicle, together with the security team leader. He had about $400 in his pocket and thought, “I've dealt with corrupt police before, $400 gets you out of anything, anywhere.” He pulled out the money and said "Dollar." It was passed to the kidnapper in the front seat who threw it out of the window. Peter thought, “That's not right! What the hell is going on? He’s supposed to pull over and kick me out.”


The kidnappers took off his ID tags, then his shirt, trousers and boots and threw these out of the window too. Peter now understood, “This is an abduction.” The vehicle moved quickly with lights and sirens going. They were transferred to other vehicles and other buildings – with lots of moves in the first day. Then he was moved to the first house of his captivity, chained, handcuffed and his glasses removed.


Living in captivity


Indeed, for much of his captivity, Peter was chained to the wall, blindfolded and endured torture and arduous conditions. For the first six


months, he was kept with members of his security team. “Everyone was under the impression we'd get out alive – I remember thinking in six months, dead or alive, this will be over.”


Ten years on


Peter now uses his experience to help train military personnel in a programme known as Conduct After Capture. In fact, this makes a really positive impact on him – “It is the most helpful thing I’ve done”– not least because everyone is interested and needs to know this information. Plus, it has enabled him to work with experts who can explain the theories behind kidnap.


They were asked to do a number of videos, most of which seemed to go nowhere. But one particular one was shown on CNN and they were allowed to see it. The report said it was really unusual for foreigners to be taken; they would have been either killed or exchanged. The report also said that the UK and US had to release the prisoner named in two weeks or they were going to kill Peter and his fellow captees. “I thought, we are going to die. We are not going to get out.”


As it turned out, the exchange took much longer than six months to negotiate. Peter was held for 2 years, 7 months, 1 day – 946 days in total.


The release


Peter’s release was announced by the then Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, on the 29th December 2009. Peter was taken to the British embassy and from there flown back to the UK.


During the year following his release, Peter was debriefed by both British and American military. His security team were unfortunately killed and there is still an open murder investigation into their deaths.


Peter was assigned a naval psychologist. Although he was experiencing 10 to 20 flashbacks a minute, he wasn’t diagnosed with PTSD since it was not debilitating and he gradually improved. He still has occasional flashbacks, especially when alone, but on the whole has been able to put the experience behind him.


Peter has seen many experts who have helped him deal with his ordeal. For him, the key thing is “understanding the theories and models that have been developed. To me, being kidnapped and held hostage was this random mess. When you analyse it, there is a process with distinct phases. Had I known this at the time, it would have been obvious that when they captured us, they were not planning on killing. So, we needed to just sweat it out.”


Peter is also using his experience to create a Virtual Reality training app – a hostage survival simulation. “You put the headset on and you can experience a kidnap – at each stage a menu is shown giving you options for what you can do next.” This could be useful training for anyone preparing to go into a hostile environment.


Outlook on life now


The experience completely changed Peter’s outlook on life. “I’ve worked out the minimum paid work I need to do to survive and only do that. I travel a lot. I’ve taken a motor cycle trip around North America and have planned trips on a Royal Enfield around India and South America.”


Surviving captivity


Peter’s background of working overseas held him in good stead: “I was used to living with no air conditioning, having blackouts with no electricity or running water. I was used to being in a room and people speaking foreign languages around me.” Additionally, his IT background and logical approach to solving problems helped him survive his ordeal. He reasoned through his response and developed a number of tactics:


Building a rapport with your kidnappers


He decided the only way to get what he needed, like getting out of his chains, blindfold and handcuffs was to build a rapport with the kidnappers. “I couldn’t stay like this for an unknown amount of time.”


He says, “Just because you ask them about their lifestyle, why they are involved with this situation, it doesn’t mean you agree with them, you are just gaining an understanding.”


At one point in his captivity, there was only one TV in the building, so Peter was in the same room as his guards. They all spoke some English words and Peter had some Arabic words and plenty of time for long conversations: “What might take 30 seconds to describe normally, like how are houses built here or how do you get a driving licence, would take hours. Guards get bored as well.”


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