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Australian journalist freed from Egyptian prison

Xinhua, February 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australian journalist Peter Greste has been deported from Egypt after spending more than a year in jail, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday.

Greste was set free by order of Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who issued under a new law allowing foreign prisoners to be deported. Greste, and two colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, were jailed under charges of spreading false news and aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

The fate of Fahmy and Mohamed is still uncertain.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Bishop said she had spoken to Greste shortly after he was released on Monday and he had been released "unconditionally".

"He was immensely relieved and he was desperate to come home to Australia and reunite with his family, his parents Lois and Juris and his brother Michael who was with him and his other brother Andrew," Bishop said.

She said Australian consular officials in Egypt moved as quickly as they could to collect Greste from prison and escort him to the airport and make arrangements for his departure.

"From my discussion with him he was very keen to be back on a beach and be lying in the sun in Australia," she said.

"He expressed his heartfelt thanks for the support he's received here in Australia during this ordeal. He thanked the Australian Government, the public of Australia and particularly the journalists who had rallied to his cause and he told me that it had sustained him through the very long time that he spent in jail.

"He is now in Cyprus. He has been met by Australian consular officials there and will then make his way home to Australia to be with his family and friends once more."

Greste's family, who will hold a press conference in Brisbane later on Monday, confirmed his release from jail in a statement posted on social media.

His brother Andrew Greste said the family was ecstatic and called for the world to respect his brother's privacy and to give him time to appreciate his freedom.

"We're ecstatic that Peter has been released and we now ask if the world could respect his privacy, to give him time to appreciate his freedom before he faces the media," Andrew said. Endi