captor

Photos circulated worldwide of him naked, blindfolded, tied up, and bound to a board with duct tape by his American captors.

While the BBC cannot independently verify their stories, almost all say they are petrified that one day, they might bump into a captor on the street or on a bus.

There, Japanese businessmen, local officials, an opera star, a translator, diplomats and revolutionary captors become unlikely companions.

He related one crushing experience when he was desperately hungry and one of his captors told him to turn his back while food was laid out for him.

They were among about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees exchanged for 33 Israeli hostages, eight dead and 25 living, some of whom have described being abused, starved and threatened by their Hamas captors.