One hot day in May, I was talking to villagers outside a base of the Kosovo Liberation Army in northern Albania, when a white Mercedes drove up the track towards us. It looked like it had bullet holes in it and had German registration plates. Two men got out and started walking towards us.

I looked at my driver and saw drops of sweat on his forehead. “Ska probleme,” I said using the only words I knew in Albanian. “No. Big problem,” he replied.

As the men approached, I tried to continue interviewing the local people. As they passed one of the men slapped me on the back in a way that was somewhere between friendly and threatening. They continued up the hill.

It became clear that I was in danger of being kidnapped as many of my colleagues had been. We tried to get into our car to get away but at that point the men pulled out two guns and raised them in the air. The guns were a German World War II Luger pistol and a Kalashnikov rifle of a similar era.

The man with the pistol got in the seat behind me and the driver was ordered to follow the white Mercedes. We rejoined the main road and drove at speed over a rough track, climbing a hill round switchback turns until we reached the top and parked.

We could see the roads in both directions for miles around. The two men and their driver got out and seemed much more relaxed. They took turns in shaking my hand and slapping me on the back. Before approaching me, the men would pass their gun to their partner.

They seemed in no hurry but eventually they searched my possessions. I had a satellite phone, and binoculars. They looked in my wallet. I had German marks, Irish punts and Scottish sterling notes. They took the marks and the punts and left me the Scottish sterling.

I then had to teach them how to use the satellite phone. They gave me a local number which was a concern because it was often difficult to get through to any Albanian numbers at that time. I managed to connect straight away.

After a final round of handshakes and back slaps they got back in the car and drove off to the north. Our car had four flat tyres and we were miles from home.

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