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Dorothy Parvaz was freed after disappearing for 18 days [Photo courtesy of Megan MacKenzie] |
Al Jazeera has confirmed the release of its journalist, Dorothy Parvaz, who was detained in Syria upon her arrival in Damascus nineteen days ago, while on assignment.
During that time she was not allowed any contact with the outside world. She landed in Doha, Qatar on May 18 on a flight from Iran.
An Al Jazeera spokesman said: "I'm delighted to let you know that Dorothy Parvaz has been released and is safe and well and back with us in Doha. She has been in contact with her family, and we are with her now to find out more about her ordeal over the last nineteen days."
Her fiancé Todd Barker, posted on Facebook: "She is safe in Doha and will be coming to Vancouver BC soon. We can't wait to see her."
Barker was with Parvaz's family when he heard the news. Parvaz will be travelling as soon as possible to meet them all.
"We are grateful to the Iranian officials that she was treated well, and she confirmed that," Barker, who is planning on marrying Parvez this summer, told Al Jazeera.
He thanks US and Canadian officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and all of those who had rallied in support of his fiancée.
Barker said he was grateful to Al Jazeera for the network's efforts to obtain Parvaz's release.
"It's been a pleasure working with them, as much as it can be," he said. "They were working like nobodies' business on it and we're just ecstatic."
Dorothy is an experienced journalist who joined Al Jazeera in 2010.
She graduated from the University of British Columbia, completed a masters degree in Arizona, and held journalism fellowships at both Harvard and Cambridge. She previously worked as a columnist and feature writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
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