Tourist's plea for Outback gunman to come forward

SYDNEY, Australia -- A British woman who escaped abduction in northern Australia's Outback has pleaded for the kidnapper come forward.

Joanne Lees, 27, was reportedly kidnapped along with her boyfriend Peter Falconio from the isolated Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory on July 14.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said that Lees spoke to the media on Wednesday and appealed to the gunman to let police know the whereabouts of Falconio, who is feared to have been shot dead.

"I am feeling positive and strong and believe it's only a matter of time now before the man responsible for what has happened to Pete and myself is caught," she was quoted on the ABC as saying.

"If I could say one thing to this man who did this, I would ask him to let the police know where Pete is."

The gunman flagged down the British couple, pretending there was something wrong with their Volkswagen van.

When Falconio and the gunman walked to the rear of the van, Lees heard a gunshot. She was then dragged away, bound and gagged.

She managed to escape into the bush where she was hunted by the gunman and his dog.

Lees managed to evade the gunman and finally flagged down a passing truck.

On Wednesday, in her first appearance in front of the media, Lees read a brief statement and only allowed one journalist to ask three selected questions from more than 12 submitted to her.

Previously she had only released statements through her missing boyfriend's brother and has been under police protection

Man released

COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Australia Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

Meanwhile police have announced that a man arrested Tuesday in Sydney suspected of being the gunman, has been released on bail after a brief court appearance over unrelated charges.

Graham Peter Oakes, 34, appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court Wednesday morning, and was granted bail on condition that he live with his sister in Bombaderry on the New South Wales south coast and report daily to police there.

Like the wanted gunman, Oakes has long hair and was driving a similar dusty utility vehicle. He also has a dogs matching the description of one belonging to the gunman.

However he was charged with minor unrelated driving and drug offences.

The ABC reported that Oakes had been in custody since early Tuesday morning while police investigated then dismissed any links between him and the attack on the British tourists.

It's been 11 days since police launched a massive manhunt with aircraft and Aboriginal trackers over the Northern Territory, an area five times the size of Britain.

Despite the massive effort the search has failed to find the gunman or Falconio.

Northern Territory police commander Max Pope told a morning television program that after 12 hours of questioning, investigators were now convinced the man is not the Outback gunman.

Pope said the man's mobile phone records had provided a solid alibi indicating he was not anywhere near the site of the incident at the time it had occurred.

Police would not be able to conclusively rule out the man as a suspect until forensic tests on his car were completed, he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.