Tuesday 14 September 2010

Released American hiker arrives in Oman


American Sarah Shourd was reunited with her mother in Muscat, Oman, on Tuesday after Iranian authorities released her from a Tehran prison where she had been held for 14 months.
Shourd arrived in Oman -- where her bail was posted -- on a chartered flight from Tehran.
I want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people that have been involved," Shourd said before boarding the plane.
And I especially and particularly want to address [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and all the Iranian officials, the religious leaders, and thank them for this humanitarian gesture," she told state-run Press TV. "I am grateful. I am very humbled by this moment.
She added, "I just want to assure you that my commitment to truth will not change when I go back to my country and I will never say anything but the truth to the media, and I will not succumb to any pressure.
Shourd's lawyer, Masoud Shafii, said that bail had been posted and that he was with a smiling Shourd when she was released late in the afternoon from Evin Prison and handed over to Swiss authorities. The United States and Iran do not have formal relations, and Switzerland serves as the "protecting power" for Washington in Tehran.
I've hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days and I cannot wait to wrap Sarah in my arms and hold her close when we are finally together again," Shourd's mother, Nora, said in a statement.
Sarah has had a long and difficult detainment and I am going to make sure that she now gets the care and attention she needs and the time and space to recover," she said.
U.S. President Barack Obama thanked authorities in Switzerland, Oman and everyone else who "worked tirelessly and admirably over the past several months to bring about this joyous reunion.
Shourd, 32, left prison wearing a red head scarf and without any belongings, Shafii said. Her release was bittersweet because she was leaving behind fellow Americans Shane Bauer, 28,
 who is her fiance, and their friend, Josh Fattal, 28.Shourd told Shafii she wished all three were walking out together.
Obama urged Iran to release Bauer and Fattal as well.
While Sarah has been released, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal remain prisoners in Iran who have committed no crime," Obama said. "We remain hopeful that Iran will demonstrate renewed compassion by ensuring the return of Shane, Josh and all the other missing or detained Americans in Iran.
The families echoed the president's sentiments in their statement.
All of our families are relieved and overjoyed that Sarah has at last been released but we're also heartbroken that Shane and Josh are still being denied their freedom for no just cause," they said Tuesday. "The work is not over and, as we prepare to welcome Sarah home, we will not rest until Shane and Josh are home, too.
"Iranian prison officials who processed Shourd's release gathered to say goodbye to her and wish her well, Shafii said. One official told her he hoped never to see her again in the notorious prison.
Shroud left Iran on a chartered flight to Muscat, Oman, the Swiss ambassador in Tehran told CNN.
Earlier, her bail was posted in Muscat, according to Iranian state-run media. It had been set at $500,000. In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States "did not pay anything for her release.
Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told Iran's Press TV that Shourd's representatives" paid her bail to an Iranian bank in Muscat, after which a judge ordered her release.
Shourd, Bauer and Fattal were detained after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Iran accused the three of spying, a charge the United States and the hikers have denied.
Dolatabadi said Tuesday that Bauer and Fattal will remain in jail until their trial. The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the detention for the two Americans had been extended by two months.
A judge allowed Shourd to be released on bail because of her medical condition, IRNA said Sunday, citing Dolatabadi. Shourd had a pre-existing gynecological problem, and her family says she now also has a lump in her breast, according to Shafii.
Iranian officials had apparently changed their stance on Shourd's release several times since last week. Iranian officials announced Thursday that Shourd would be released on Saturday, at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But state media announced Friday that the release had been called off because legal procedures had not been resolved.
Some analysts said it is no coincidence that Shourd's release comes as Ahmadinejad prepares to attend this month's U.N. General Assembly meeting."
I think President Ahmadinejad really wanted to use this as a way of building up a store of goodwill just before he comes to New York," said Gary Sick, a professor at Columbia University and a former National Security Council Iran analyst.


Source: CNN

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