The conflict in Syria has now dragged on for more than five years.

I'm Lee's Doucette and I've been covering this uprising from the start.

Recently I spoke to some of the many people whose lives have been shattered by this devastating

war, including a group of men taken captive and held hostage in Syria.

Hostage taking, in many conflicts of our time, it's a weapon of choice for extracting money exerting pressure exercising

power it's a tool of terror and for those who suffer the terrible fate of being

held hostage it's an horrific ordeal.

In Syria's devastating war, hostage taking has been used by extremist groups, including the

so-called Islamic State.

Hundreds of Syrians have been seized and brutally executed.

Western journalists and aid workers have been cruelly beheaded.

Their fate slickly filmed and publicized on social media in a grotesque publicity stunt.

Some hostages are still being held.

Some are now free, including four men today, together for the first time since their releases at different times in

2014. All of them spent about a year in captivity. Some of them have not spoken before in public about their ordeal.

Italian aid worker, Fadico Motka, French journalist Dede Francoisénes freelance photographer Daniel Rai and French blogger Pierre Torres.

Welcome to all of you. Welcome. Welcome back. Thank you.

Let's go back to how it all began.

Did you even a war correspondent for 30 years?

Why in particular did you want to go to Syria at that particular time?

Well, I was caught on the 6th of June, two days after the French authorities met public the

fact that they had the proof of the use of chemical weapons by Assad regime against its own population.

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