A German-American journalist who was abducted by Somali pirates more than two years ago was set free on Tuesday. He is being taken for medical and psychological examination, but is "in good condition considering the circumstances," his former employer Der Spiegel reports.

Michael Scott Moore was in the embattled Horn of Africa nation researching piracy for a book when he was kidnapped. "Of all the people for the pirates to nab," Michel Todd, an editor at Pacific Standard magazine, explained to CNN. "He wasn't necessarily a spokesman, but he was someone who was more amenable to getting (the pirates') point across. I'm not saying he was pro-pirate, but he was pro-truth and that seemed like something that might have been helpful to Somalis."

In a video released shortly after his capture, Moore, while being held at gunpoint by masked men, warned that he would be sold to the Islamist group al-Shabab if a ransom wasn't paid. A Somali pirate commander indicated to AFP that their demands had been met. Abdi Yusuf, interior minister of the semi-autonomous region of Galmudug in central Somalia where he was abducted, meanwhile told Reuters that he was not aware of a ransom being paid.

[Photo Credit: AP Images]