newspaper interviews

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday October 10, 2006

Vienna- Seven weeks after her spectacular escape from the man who held her captive for eight years, Austrian Natascha Kampusch, 18, is still adjusting to life in freedom, she said in interviews published in two Austrian dailies on Wednesday. "I have not had negative experiences yet, the people behave themselves. Some even look away on purpose, try not to be noticed. And many people do not recognize me, because they don't expect me riding the underground," she told Kurier.

The past several weeks have been busy for Kampusch, she has had so many obligations that she "does not feel free," she said, but added this was only partly negative, because having nothing to do would be a "nightmare."

Her body has not yet adapted after eight years of being mostly indoors and she had been sick twice since running to freedom on August 24.

Personal freedom "is to be able to eat what I want to", she said, adding that she liked muesli bars and was wary of fast food.

"Last weekend I ate hamburgers in a fast food restaurant. I found that ethically and morally worrying, and also unhealthy," she told the Standard.

While Kampusch has the high-flying plans of most teenagers ­ becoming an actress, a journalist, writing a book ­ Vienna's authorities are still working out a solution that will allow her to finish school. The well-read young woman, who was abducted at age 10, has not completed primary schooling.

By escaping her abductor Wolfgang Priklopil, who committed suicide after she fled, Kampusch became world-famous and now has to deal with the dark sides of fame.

Kampusch categorically denied any media reports of either her mother having known Priklopil or that Priklopil was involved in Vienna's S&M scene.

"I can definitely rule out that any photos or movies exist of me," she said.

She said she was hurt by people saying she could have escaped earlier, for example when her abductor took her on a skiing excursion.

She also said she was annoyed by people saying that the Natascha Kampusch seen in the media was different from the real person: "I am not being manipulated," Kampusch said.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency