How I escaped certain death when Islamic terrorists stormed my hotel... and why my rescuers haven't got the credit they deserve

It was 7am erstwhile Terry Kemp went to nan beforehand steps of his edifice for a cigarette.

The State Department contractor had conscionable vanished an early breakfast, and was taking successful nan calm greeting sun successful Bamako, nan superior of Mali.

While commuters headed to activity and nan bustling westbound African metropolis prepared for nan day, he opened nan doorway to a shuttle autobus for a thrust to nan U.S. Embassy, which was conscionable down nan roadworthy from nan Radisson Blu.

Then 2 men who had been sitting connected suitcases crossed nan roadworthy stood up and looked fresh to attack him.

As an Air Force seasoned of nan first Gulf War, Terry perpetually monitored his surroundings and was ever connected alert erstwhile connected a occupation successful a overseas country.

There hadn’t been overmuch origin for interest during his 5 weeks successful Mali, but he knew it only took seconds for situations to change.

The 2 men opened their luggage, took retired AK47s, started moving towards nan 190-room edifice and opened occurrence screaming: ‘Allahu Akbar.’

Terry’s training kicked in, and he ran backmost up nan steps towards nan hotel’s lobby to find screen from nan hail of bullets. The terrorists chasing him changeable a defender and shattered nan solid entrance.

The attackers mowed down everyone successful their way arsenic they charged a target wherever they knew they could termination arsenic galore Westerners arsenic possible. Entering nan hotel, they slit a achromatic guest’s throat.

The Islamic militants linked to Al-Qaeda had launched an onslaught connected nan celebrated downtown spot wherever diplomats, tourists, hose crews and workers from dozens of countries were staying - including Americans.

It was November 20, 2015. Over nan adjacent fewer hours, Terry fought for his life arsenic nan gunmen stormed nan hotel, took hostages and near piles of bodies successful nan room and done nan corridors.

By nan extremity of nan day, nan terrorists had killed 23 group including an American assistance worker.

No 1 was spared. They moreover gunned down a pregnant woman. One man was fto spell because he recited nan Shahada - an oath to Islam - arsenic he begged nan attackers not to termination him.

Terry someway survived, and still remembers nan events of 8 years agone successful horrifying detail. For him, it’s arsenic if it happened yesterday.

In an question and reply pinch DailyMail.com - nan first since nan contiguous aftermath of nan onslaught - he recalls really he managed to debar almost definite death.

He besides vividly remembers nan Americans who rescued him and apt saved hundreds much lives successful a state wherever nan U.S. didn’t person troops connected nan ground.

But their stories person been virtually forgotten.

Their accelerated and coordinated consequence meant nan Mali rampage has been subsumed by nan spectrum of violent attacks astir nan globe that person ended successful aggregate fatalities.

A week earlier, Islamic militants had killed 130 group successful coordinated attacks crossed Paris.

A week later a joined couple, some convulsive extremists, gunned down 14 group successful a mass shooting successful San Bernardino, California.

If it weren’t for nan Americans’ bravery successful Mali, their split-second reasoning and nan negotiated information response, nan results could person been acold much catastrophic.

Terry’s communicative is conscionable 1 of unthinkable endurance complete hours of utmost fearfulness and pandemonium.

As Terry ran and tried to find screen aft nan first shots rang out, he fell down. The embassy accommodation head beside him thought he had been changeable dead, truthful carried connected without him.

Terry sewage backmost up while nan terrorists kept firing. He frantically tried to find a stairwell arsenic he felt different burst of gunfire successful his direction.

Grenades started going off, fume started to situation him and bullets whizzed by, sprayed successful each directions.

He sprinted done nan barroom and up a staircase to nan edifice wherever he had conscionable eaten meal and hid nether a buffet array covered successful a achromatic cloth, pinch nan attackers chasing.

Somehow they didn’t spot him spell to his hiding spot and, contempt nan carnage, he managed to enactment calm.

He took retired a telephone fixed to him weeks earlier by nan negotiated information squad and called nan emergency number for Post 1 - nan Marine Security Guard connected work astatine nan U.S. Embassy down nan street.

The embassy’s Diplomatic Security (DS) squad had ensured nan phones were pre-programmed pinch emergency numbers successful nan arena of immoderate emergency - whether it was a car mishap aliases a wide murder.

All they had to do was property a cardinal to get help.

‘I told them shots had been fired astatine nan Radisson Blu, and gave them my name,’ said Terry.

The DS squad had already been warned an onslaught was unfolding by a information contractor astatine nan hotel, and Terry’s telephone gave them much information.

It was confirmation location were trapped Americans successful nan firing line, and each 2nd that passed put them astatine greater risk.

In nan 3 years aft nan 2012 Benghazi attacks, embassy unit had been formulating plans to amended respond to rapidly-unfolding situations adjacent negotiated outposts.

For nan squad successful Bamako, nan adjacent violent onslaught wasn’t a matter of if, but when.

Extremism was connected nan emergence successful nan northbound of nan state and a masked gunman had stormed nan city’s La Terrasse nightclub a fewer months earlier.

The suspect, believed to person links to Al Qaeda, changeable and killed a French national, a Belgian information charismatic and 3 Malians.

On nan greeting of November, 20, 2105, Mike Diamond was opinionated adjacent to his furniture successful his underwear and wearing a t-shirt of his favourite set erstwhile his compartment telephone rang.

That day, he was nan U.S. Embassy’s Regional Security Officer (RSO) successful Bamako, because his leader was connected a formation connected nan measurement to his time off successful Portugal.

He was told terrorists had stormed nan Radisson Blu, a spot he knew was afloat of guests linked to nan embassy.

Immediately, Diamond sewage to nan scene, conscionable 400 meters from his house.

Once there, he contacted nan basal parties—most notably his teammate and nan different ARSO, Ryan Pack.

He besides sewage successful touch pinch his subject colleagues and told them Americans were nether attack.

He called nan leader of nan Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) Mario Madera-Rodriguez, who woke up his teammate Jarad Stout.

They grabbed their vests and guns and wrong 5 minutes they loaded up their motortruck and started driving towards nan embassy.

They besides sewage successful touch pinch Delta Force usability Kyle Morgan.

Terry, meanwhile, was still nether nan table.

‘I was sitting connected a crate of eggs,' he recalled. 

He past heard nan gunmen burst into nan room and commencement spraying nan walls pinch bullets.

The terrorists had conscionable executed a unit of formation attendants, and started flipping tables to find immoderate imaginable hostages - aliases victims - hiding beneath.

Terry watched arsenic nan terrorists’ achromatic boots walked nan level conscionable a fewer feet distant from his face.

The ammunition casings ejected from their weapons were hitting him connected nan back, still burning basking from nan muzzle.

He was truthful adjacent he could person touched 1 of their hands arsenic they grabbed nan underside of nan array wherever he was staying retired of sight.

He knew it was only a matter of clip earlier he was dead.

‘I conscionable said a dream to myself and I knew they were going to get to maine sooner aliases later.’

They ne'er did, and alternatively nan terrorists took each cloth from nan tables, piled them successful nan area of nan room and started mounting them connected fire.

Incredibly, they near nan 1 that covered Terry’s array alone.

Natural state hissed from nan room stoves arsenic nan attackers tried to create an explosion.

As nan acrid fume started to rise, Terry knew he had to alteration locations. Staying underneath nan array successful nan blaze would person near him helplessly trapped.

Somehow he had managed to debar nan terrorists uncovering him. Maybe they had moved connected to find much guests? He couldn’t beryllium sure.

Even so, he made a tactical determination and crawled crossed nan room and tried to move connected nan sprinklers. That didn’t work.

Then he recovered an office. Inside was a table pinch a mini abstraction underneath. There was besides a woman’s assemblage connected nan floor.

At six-feet one-inches and 240 pounds, he didn’t deliberation he could fresh his monolithic framework successful nan mini spread beneath nan desk. But he utilized his adrenaline to wedge himself inside.

‘The fume was filling up successful nan room. I soaked my garment pinch half a vessel of h2o and drank immoderate to extremity nan fume from getting in. I didn’t attraction astir disease.’

He took retired his telephone again and called Post 1 to fto them cognize wherever he was, and springiness them each nan accusation they needed arsenic nan scary continued to unfold.

Shooting was coming from an elevator down him and a heap of bodies started to build up successful nan doorway wherever nan terrorists had caught victims trying to escape.

Mike, Jarad, Mario, and Kyle had scrambled to nan edifice and were figuring retired a crippled scheme to rescue Terry.

There were different Americans trapped inside, including assistance worker and mother Anita Datar and a personnel of nan U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The group were extracurricular nan edifice trying to portion together each spot of accusation they had. 

What were nan terrorists equipped with? What did they look like? One mobility they did cognize nan reply to was what they wanted: To termination arsenic galore group arsenic possible.

The business was complex. They didn’t person a ample capable squad to simply large wind nan edifice and they still didn’t cognize really galore gunmen were inside.

There were guests from aggregate nations, and responders from those various authorities agencies and countries were flooding into nan area. There was nary coordination and nan consequence of friends occurrence was extreme.

The African information forces were waiting for orders from their superiors to spell in.

The U.S. didn’t technically person ‘boots connected nan ground’ successful Mali. France, nan erstwhile assemblage power, had a subject beingness and had been moving to extremity nan infiltration of extremist factions into nan federation for years.

If Mike, Jarad, Mario, Ryan and Kyle engaged pinch nan gunmen, it would make headlines astir nan world.

More immediately, if they were to find and propulsion Americans retired of their rooms, would they beryllium successful much threat successful nan halls of nan edifice than barricaded down their doors?

The rescuers were successful changeless interaction pinch nan Embassy, trying to instruct some diplomats and backstage citizens wrong to enactment sheltered.

They were besides trying to fig retired wherever Americans were trapped.

The apical brass were concerned astir their presence, but they knew immoderate hesitation could lead to further disaster.

Permission to spell into nan edifice and prosecute was besides a constituent of contention. But American lives were astatine risk.

As nan rescuers tried to portion together this larger picture, a connection from Terry came done from Post 1.

‘Sir, location is an American national trapped upstairs successful a burning meal room. His life is successful danger; he is requesting assistance.’

The accusation was critical, arsenic it meant a speedy consequence was needed to prevention nan Americans inside.

Mike was capable to punctual nan U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to springiness nan American responders nan greenish ray to enter.

It sparked nan commencement of a time of missions mired successful disorder and bloodshed.

The squad didn’t cognize what they were up against, but knew they had to find Terry earlier either occurrence aliases nan terrorists took his life.

Terry’s compartment telephone buzzed again and it was Mike Diamond, telling him he was extracurricular nan hotel.

They executed their hasty plan, bolstered by their knowledge of nan edifice wherever they had held nan Marine Corps Birthday Ball not agelong before.

Stacking up connected nan broadside of nan building, they entered, arsenic wide-eyed section policemen watched them go.

Moving done nan ballrooms, they traversed nan hotel’s atrium done which Terry had fled minutes before.

Multiple floors and a maze of rooms roseate upwards towards nan ceiling, connected by an exposed stairwell.

Despite nan awesome design, nan layout didn’t make consciousness and nan room numbers were inconsistent.

It was a beautiful building and a apical destination for those who wanted meal surrounded by expats aliases an evening cocktail astatine nan edifice bar.

The Americans had been location galore times earlier and knew nan surroundings, but nan segment they encountered that time could not person been much different,

The floors wherever guests had walked casually were now slick pinch humor and covered successful surgery glass.

Choking achromatic smoke, nan squad could hardly spot successful beforehand of them and nan likelihood started stacking against them.

The marque caller artillery successful Jarad’s firearm optic inexplicably went dead, meaning their imagination was moreover much impaired.

But they had to find a measurement to get to Terry.

A dangerously exposed staircase took them to nan adjacent level, wherever nan eating room and room belched achromatic fume from nan fires group by nan terrorists.

They tried to group up security, but were exposed from each angle, and squad members took turns plunging into nan fume to effort and find Terry, but each came retired quiet handed.

Terry’s compartment telephone buzzed again and it was Mike, telling him nan squad was extracurricular nan eating room but they couldn’t find him successful nan smoke.

The occurrence was getting excessively large for them to travel wrong to rescue him, truthful they had to enactment fast.

He had squeezed himself into that mini abstraction nether nan table for 90 minutes, truthful his legs were dormant and he wasn’t capable to walk.

The full clip he had been praying nan perpetrators wouldn’t travel backmost to find him. While he listened to nan changeless volley of gunshots, he made his peace.

The Americans were capable to move swiftly done nan edifice to a spot adjacent to nan meal room wherever Terry was hiding.

But erstwhile they tried to footwear nan doorway down, they were overwhelmed by nan occurrence and ferocious heat.

After respective unsuccessful attempts to conflict nan fume and get inside, they connected pinch Terry complete nan phone.

He decided to return matters into his ain hands, truthful he crawled done nan room connected his belly, and started to perceive voices shouting his sanction and saying: ‘Come to us.’

He was still connected nan telephone pinch Mike but excessively frightened to spell done nan door, successful lawsuit nan attackers were connected nan different side.

His legs were numb from having crouched for truthful agelong and nan fume was increasing moreover much dangerous.

He stumbled towards nan sounds and beams from flashlights sneaking successful done nan cracks successful nan door.

As he reached nan doorway he pushed his measurement out, and slid his hands done Ryan’s thorax plate.

‘(Terry’s) eyes were bloodshot, and he looked for illustration he had conscionable tally a marathon,’ Mario told DailyMail.com

‘Are you hurt?’ Terry heard from nan Americans arsenic he tried to regain his bearings.

Terry said no, but nan humor was returning to his legs very slow and he was covered successful soot.

They formed a protective circle astir him and helped him move backmost on nan way they had utilized to find him.

To Terry, emerging from nan fume into a different location, it felt for illustration they were taking nan incorrect stairwell.

‘All nan clip nan shooting is still going connected supra america and location are bodies everywhere,’ Terry said.

Having nary alternative, nan Americans moved down nan aforesaid dangerously exposed stairwell and sewage him outside, backmost to wherever he was enjoying what he thought was a serene greeting fume a fewer hours earlier.

He was gasping for air, his legs still weren’t moving and his first petition stunned his rescuers: He wanted a cigarette.

Mike and Ryan checked connected Terry again and saw that, somehow, he had managed to get retired virtually unharmed.

Throughout nan torment he hadn't screamed for thief aliases mislaid his cool.

For an hr and 30 minutes he was surrounded by a blazing inferno and nan weapon muzzles of evil men who wouldn’t person fto him past if they recovered him.

‘I was ne'er successful a panic. I was calm,’ Terry said.

‘Chaos breeds chaos. If you don't stay calm, cipher tin thief you.’

He was relaxed, and he knew nan men still had activity to do.

Jarad asked Terry what he saw inside. How galore gunmen were there? What were they equipped with? What connection were they speaking?

Gunfire and explosions kept ringing retired done nan edifice arsenic they spoke.

With Terry safe, nan squad regrouped, piecing together nan communicative of what was happening.

They gathered room numbers and immoderate accusation they could connected nan number of Americans still trapped successful nan burning hotel.

The terrorists’ gunfire could still beryllium heard from nan outside, wherever constabulary officers were dragging guests to information and troops were preparing to enter.

There were nary signs nan onslaught was stopping immoderate clip soon.

Ryan recovered a sharpie and wrote room numbers down connected his arms. His impromptu assemblage creation would beryllium a representation nan Americans - and those they rescued - would ne'er forget.

The others grabbed immoderate scrap of insubstantial they could find and scribbled down nan information, and sewage fresh to spell backmost into nan burning Radisson Blu.

The team’s concerns astir nan anticipation of a increasing occurrence eclipsed nan risks of traversing nan hallways.

They had faced nan flames and fume 1 time, and knew they had gotten lucky.

But nan Malian consequence squad was not yet on-site, and they had to do something. Mike and Ryan tried to coordinate pinch nan mini activity cadre on-site, and worked to minimize nan consequence of blue-on-blue shooting wrong nan hotel.

The rescuers sewage backmost into a tactical statement and moved wrong for nan 2nd time.

Malian information teams were holding nan stairwells, and nan squad climbed past them, readying to find their colleagues and region them from nan apical of nan edifice going down.

As they moved done nan halls, survivors from each locomotion of life clung onto them. They recovered those who had been hiding and escorted them to safety.

Their cognition had turned from extracting Americans to redeeming everyone they could find successful nan terrorists’ firing line.

They regrouped extracurricular nan edifice for nan 2nd clip aft escorting much survivors to safety, done nan aforesaid doorway they had travel through.

Again, they gathered arsenic overmuch intelligence arsenic possible. Who was still near inside?

American Anita Datar was still obscurity to beryllium found, and nan rescuers were consenting to break nan rules to effort and find her.

Mario was successful changeless interaction pinch nan MARSOC bid successful Stuttgart, Germany, which was still pushing backmost connected its engagement successful nan rescue cognition and was uneasy astatine their presence.

One incorrect move and their careers would beryllium connected nan line. But they were consenting to judge nan consequences if it meant redeeming arsenic galore group arsenic possible.

They went backmost into nan labyrinth of rooms to way down who was left. They had nary thought what was waiting down each door.

There was nary concealment successful nan hallways, and nary spot to return screen from an assault.

When they entered nan stairwell, nan Americans came look to look pinch nan terrorists for nan first time.

The gunmen were coming down arsenic nan rescuers were going up, and they were each taken by surprise.

Gunfire erupted and grenades followed. Bullets ricochet disconnected nan walls successful what turned into a gunfight.

Kyle Morgan, successful nan lead, narrowly escaped being deed and Jarad and Mario jumped successful to supply supporting occurrence and thief Kyle retired of nan precarious position. It was still only 10am.

Mario, Jarad and Kyle entered nan stairwell, while Mike and Ryan held rear security.

Taking connected nan terrorists was going to require a overmuch bigger team.

Holding nan bad guys successful spot was what they needed to do, because French responders were connected nan way, acknowledgment to Kyle’s subject command.

The American squad conscionable had to hold for their arrival, on pinch their much powerful instrumentality and firepower.

They were respecting nan Malian government’s sovereignty and sparing further nonaccomplishment of American life.

Their efforts past shifted to connection pinch nan French-speaking U.N. information counterpart pinch a clear message: ‘We person them pinned down; thief america support them there.’

The Malian forces took complaint of nan stalemate successful nan stairwell, leaving nan squad free to transportation connected knocking connected doors to find trapped guests.

Some were hesitant to look from their hiding spots, terrified nan terrorists were connected nan different broadside of nan door.

They collapsed into immoderate rooms to find nan bodies of barricaded victims who had made nan correction of opening nan doorway to their captors.

Mike, Jarad, Mario, Ryan and Kyle were exhausted, depleted, and retired of water.

They’d taken what they could from nan edifice refrigerators, but nan time was hot, and their cognition had dragged connected for hours.

Meanwhile, France had rallied a 50-man Special Operations counterterrorism squad from neighboring Burkina Faso.

The French had excessively overmuch to suffer successful West Africa, having poured successful immense subject resources, truthful they were going to decorativeness nan job.

The Americans regrouped extracurricular nan edifice for nan 3rd time. Again they gathered arsenic overmuch intelligence arsenic possible. Who was still near wrong nan hotel?

Jarad, Mario and Kyle went backmost to decorativeness nan job. Ryan group up an study constituent connected nan tile of a neighboring building, while Mike was called backmost to nan embassy.

The edifice wasn’t their only constituent of concern. Children of embassy staff, including Mike’s daughter, had to beryllium collected nether equipped defender and brought to safety.

Jarad's girlfriend, who was now his wife, was astatine a adjacent schoolhouse who besides had to beryllium protected.

His occupation was besides to study backmost to his superiors successful Washington D.C. and Germany.

‘I had a batch of different s***’ to do,’ he said.

The French ‘Saber’ typical operations unit has arrived and revenge into nan edifice pinch purpose.

Heavily equipped and successful acold greater numbers than nan American rescuers, they arrived astatine nan attackers’ location successful nan stairwell.

After their hours-long rampage, nan gunmen's reign of panic was coming to an end. One was changeable and killed, his assemblage sprawled retired complete nan stairs.

A 2nd violent was killed successful a janitor’s closet.

Even though nan carnage was over, nan toll of nan time wasn’t. One American who didn’t make it retired was Anita Datar.

The assemblage of nan 41-year-old mother and sometime Peace Corps unpaid was recovered successful her room arsenic troops swept nan hotel.

She was moving arsenic a elder head astatine nan nationalist wellness patient Palladium, and her decease sparked an outpouring of tributes from immoderate of nan astir influential figures crossed nan country, including Hillary Clinton.

The squad were crushed erstwhile they recovered retired she hadn’t made it.

The Embassy had sent Ryan to nan morgue pinch nan excruciating task of identifying her body.

Jarad was shown a photo. Then nan U.S. The Ambassador delivered nan heartbreaking news to her family backmost successful Maryland.

‘That was astir apt 1 of nan hardest moments of my life,’ Jarad told DailyMail.com.

‘I was perfectly crushed. The adrenaline was coming down, I was tired, everything hurt.

‘I was conscionable truthful physically and mentally exhausted that I collapsed down.’

It is apt that Datar died earlier nan Americans made it to nan hotel, but they still regret not redeeming her.

‘I will ever beryllium present and deliberation I should person done better. She deserved better,’ Jarad added.

Terry and nan different survivors had been bundled into an armored conveyance and evacuated to nan U.S. Embassy.

Survivors from crossed nan world were thrown inside, coughing from fume inhalation and covered successful humor and soot.

During nan short but chaotic drive, Terry turned his thoughts to nan Americans he knew were wrong erstwhile nan onslaught began.

He besides thought of his woman backmost location successful nan U.S., who stood by his broadside while he went connected overseas assignments successful places that were considered acold from paradise.

Terry had fixed a CDC worker nan keys to his room truthful she could shop her bags earlier her formation home, and knew she was wrong erstwhile nan gunmen entered.

He called Post 1 to make judge they knew to way her down. She was 1 of nan Americans Mike helped to safety.

She had been trapped connected nan precocious stories of nan edifice during nan firefight pinch nan responders.

She stayed successful a room nan full clip and stayed calm, refusing to unfastened her doorway erstwhile nan terrorists tried to instrumentality her.

The CDC staffer walked retired pinch Malian authorities aft nan onslaught stopped.

Terry’s hideous ordeal was over. He sat successful nan courtyard of nan embassy alone, dehydrated and exhausted, but still smoking a cigarette.

It was 5pm, and nan sun he watched rising a fewer hours earlier was now starting to set.

The rescuers had yet received an ‘All Clear.’

‘I was blessed that I was there. I had an angel connected my shoulder,’ Terry said.

But location was 1 infinitesimal from that day, distant from nan bloodshed, that will ever instrumentality successful his mind.

It wasn’t being stuck nether a mini table for 90 minutes, crawling done heavy fume to information aliases watching nan boots of nan terrorists locomotion by.

It was erstwhile a kid rode up to him connected his bike, bent down, looked astatine him and said: ‘My daddy says you're a hero.'

The boy was Ryan Pack’s young son. It was only a fewer hours aft his begetter had saved his life.

Overcome pinch emotion and knowing he had made it done what would apt beryllium nan worst time of his life, Terry said to him: ‘No, your daddy is my hero.'

The remainder of Ryan and Mike’s families walked over, and Terry hugged them some and thanked them.

Almost a decade on, Terry still reminisces astir nan infinitesimal he was reunited pinch nan men who helped him get to safety. It’s what drives him today.

Mike says Terry was a ‘bada**’ and his ‘nerves of alloy apt saved lives’.

If he hadn’t called Post 1 truthful quickly, nan rescuers whitethorn person been slower successful their consequence to nan hotel.

‘He was a existent leader to himself and to his family that day,’ Mike told DailyMail.com.

‘He’s besides nan logic we sewage started doing what we were doing and were capable to thief arsenic overmuch arsenic we did.

‘He was nan catalyst that led to everything happening nan measurement it did.’

Terry still keeps successful touch and says he would do thing for them.

He besides believes they haven’t gotten capable in installments for actions that prevented a acold much gruesome massacre.

Terry kept moving pinch nan State Department astir nan world for years aft nan attack.

A period later he had a adjacent telephone successful Karachi, Pakistan, erstwhile men started waving and firing AK47s connected nan slope crossed nan stream from his hotel.

The 63-year-old discontinue walking pinch nan U.S. authorities 3 years ago. A mates of aesculapian episodes - including a month-long enactment successful intensive attraction successful Dubai - were capable to show him his globetrotting days were over.

He now useful successful aerial conditioning successful Destin, Florida - wherever he lives pinch his woman of 42 years, who suffered done each of his overseas scares.

His 2 sons and 4 grandchildren unrecorded nearby.

‘The bully Lord looked retired aft maine for truthful long. It's clip for maine to enactment home,' he said.