Detained journalist reunited with family in B.C.
The Canadian Press
Posted: May 19, 2011 2:21 PM PT
Last Updated: May 19, 2011 5:45 PM PT
Dorothy Parvaz, centre, is greeted by family members at Vancouver airport Thursday. (CBC)
Journalist Dorothy Parvaz is back with her family in B.C. after being released from detention in Iran.
Parvaz hugged relatives upon her arrival at Vancouver International Airport Thursday and her father said she looked "great."
"Happy to be back and I'm anxious to be with my family," she said as reporters crowded around her. "So if you would please help me, like, let me find them that would be awesome."
The B.C. journalist was on assignment for Al-Jazeera's English-language news network when she was detained by Syrian authorities April 29.
The 39-year-old was then deported to Iran, where she also has citizenship, and held in detention there.
Nobody heard from Parvaz until Tuesday, when she called her family in North Vancouver to say she'd been released and returned to Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based.
Parvaz apologized, but said she couldn't give interviews about her ordeal.
"I have to authorize everything through my employer. Thank you very much, I'm so sorry, I know what it's like to be on your side."
As her family waited in an SUV to take her home, her father said she looks "great. She's beautiful, as you can see."
He thanked the media for helping to publicize his daughter's situation and said his family now plans to spend some quiet time together.
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