Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen & held in the suburbs of Beirut for the next four & a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news & contact with anyone other than his jailers & later his fellow hostages amongst them John Mc Carthy.