Suspected Somali pirates captured by the Dutch navy working under NATO command are seen behind bars at the Mombasa Law Courts in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, January 23, 2014.
Suspected Somali pirates captured by the Dutch navy working under NATO command are seen behind bars at the Mombasa Law Courts in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, January 23, 2014. A Kenyan court sentenced 24 Somalis to seven years each in prison on Thursday for attempting to hijack an Iranian merchant vessel, FV Ariya, in the Gulf of Oman in October 2010. The men were handed over to Kenyan authorities because Somalia, which is struggling to rebuild after two decades of civil war, was not seen as stable enough to try them properly. REUTERS/Joseph Okanga

He was a German-American journalist who had landed up in Somalia two years ago. But at last, he walked to freedom on Tuesday, said a Somali police official, according to Daily Mail. 45-year-old Michael Scott Moore was freelancing for the German weekly, "Der Spiegel."

The news that this German who also had U.S. citizenship and was kidnapped in Somalia was freed today was also validated by the German Foreign Ministry. However, too many details were not revealed.

He was taken to Kenya's capital, Nairobi, after becoming free, said Somali cop, Mohamed Hassan, in Galkayo, north-central Somalia.

The kidnappers were pirates who had captured him, but reached some agreement after the ransom was given, according to Bile Hussein, chief of the pirates, in a small coastal Somali town, Hobyo. Moore was detained in many places, as his kidnappers kept trying to avoid being identified and detected. He was mostly held near the central Somali town of Adado, Hussein said.

Moore, 45, is said to be healthy and fit, considering his circumstances. He was said to be thrilled to be free at last. On Tuesday, Moore landed in the Somali capital in a small airplane and was admitted to a small place for medical care. Throughout his kidnapping, his kidnappers released periodic photos of Moore. However, the Foreign Ministry's crisis team as well as U.S. team did not give up looking for his release in two-and-a-half years.

Following Moore's release, SPIEGEL Editor-in-Chief Wolfgang Büchner thanked all those involved in working on behalf of the journalist during his captivity. "We never gave up hope and are now rejoicing with Michael and his family that this nightmare has finally come to an end," Büchner said in Hamburg.

Moore, who was a native of Redondo Beach, California, had been captured in January 2012. He had been exploring piracy while researching a book on the subject based on a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Jon Sawyer, executive director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting also thanked the rescuers and other people who have helped him to escape.

Once, piracy had ravaged Somalia, but it has dipped today, mainly due to armed guards aboard cargo ships as well as a global naval armada.