Linda Norgrove 'caught face of her captors' on film

THE kidnapped aid worker Linda Norgrove caught one of her Afghan captors on camera shortly before she died in a failed rescue attempt. As she was being marched into the mountains after being abducted, she took more than 20 pictures and short videos on her iPhone and camera which were later found among her personal belongings.

• Some of the photographs of her captors taken by Linda Norgrove showing them armed but relaxed. Her family believes they were not religious fanatics but kidnappers who were seeking ransom cash

Linda's parents, John and Linda Norgrove, who live in Lewis, have now released some of the images, which include snaps of an unnamed kidnapper, who posed with his AK47 rifle.

Other shots are of two men believed to be farmers and a video of two Afghan children.

Mr Norgrove said yesterday he and his wife decided to release the pictures to help emphasise the human issues surrounding the kidnapping of their daughter.

"We felt that insufficient attention has been paid to local people as this story has been reported in the press. We remain concerned for the wellbeing of the women and children at the rescue site who have suffered bereavement like us but who cannot have received anything like the support that we have had.

"Linda took these photos of the kidnappers with their permission at a time when they were surely all hoping for a non-violent resolution. This didn't happen, and this is just as much a tragedy for the Afghans as for Linda."

Her parents said they were amazed she was allowed to take the pictures and said it suggests she was trying to befriend those around her.

The couple told a newspaper they believe their daughter's captors were not religious fanatics but men who were seeking ransom money from her kidnapping.

The Norgrove family have set up a charitable foundation in Linda's name which will undertake humanitarian projects aimed at helping women, children and families in conjunction with her former employers, the American charity DAI.

Ms Norgrove, 36, from Lewis, was killed by a grenade thrown by a US soldier as a special forces squad tried to free her after she was taken hostage in Afghanistan in September.

It was initially reported that an explosive suicide vest detonated by her captors caused her death. However, it later emerged that her injuries were the result of the grenade thrown during a firefight at the compound where she was held.

An inquest into Ms Norgrove's death on 22 October heard she died of penetrating fragment injuries to her head and chest.

Four days later, hundreds of people attended her funeral at Uig Community Centre on Lewis.

Ms Norgrove, who was based in Jalalabad, was supervising reconstruction programmes in the eastern region of Afghanistan funded by the US government when she was captured during an ambush.

An investigation was launched by the US military when conflicting evidence emerged about the rescue attempt. The inquiry, led by US major-general Joseph Vogel and British Brigadier Robert Nitsch, involved sifting through hours of video footage and hundreds of documents.

Linda's possessions were recovered after her death and handed over to her family by the Metropolitan Police.