Stephen McGown, 42, was snatched from a hostel in the historic trading city of Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2011 alongside Swede Johan Gustafsson and Dutchman Sjaak Rijke.
Speaking today, just 10 days after his release, he said he had been well treated but was distraught to have not been freed before his mother died.
He said he had been converted to Islam in the Sahara desert and added he was determined to be positive after his ordeal. 'I see a lot of good in Islam. It has opened my eyes. It's taken me away from capitalism.'
He revealed he feared for his life three times during his time in captivity, but stopped after his conversion. He said his captors were unaware he held joint UK citizenship.
'I don't believe they knew my nationality. It would have been first prize for them if I was British…they kidnapped me just because I was non-Muslim. McGown, 42, flanked by his wife Catherine and father Malcolm, explained how he was sometimes held in handcuffs and chains at night with two other hostages.
'I did my best to see the best in a bad situation,' McGown said, looking in good health and smiling regularly despite recently suffering from a severe fever and meningitis.
'I didn't want to come out an angry person and be a bigger burden on my family,' he added.
'Sometimes you are miserable and you want to fight everyone (but) I did not want to become a mess. I want to come home a better person.'
He paid tribute to his mother who died in May, saying she was 'an amazing lady and I can imagine the difficulties she went through.'
He said he built a simple hut of grass and sticks to survive the cold desert nights when he often had only one blanket, adding that he feared for his life three times in the first three months after he was captured in 2011.
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