After almost two years in captivity, Peter Theo Curtis is finally home.
The American writer flew Tuesday from Tel Aviv, Israel, to the United
States -- stopping first in Newark, New Jersey, before reuniting with
his mother in Boston, his family said in a news release.
"I have been so touched and moved, beyond all words, by the people who
have come up to me today -- strangers on the airplane, the flight
attendants and, most of all, my family to say welcome home," Curtis
said.
The reunion meant an end to a dramatic ordeal for Curtis, who was held
by Islamist rebels in Syria.
His mother, Nancy, said she was "overwhelmed with relief" now that he
was back in the United States.
But, given the recent beheading of American journalist James Foley --
who was also being by militants in Syria -- she couldn't bring herself
to celebrate.
"I don't think anybody's in the mood of celebration. You know, we're
relieved," Curtis earlier told CNN outside her home in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. "But after the events of the last week and knowing
those other children of my friends are in danger, you know, I have
very conflicted emotions. I've come to know the other families as
well, and these kids have a lot in common."
In fact, the first person Curtis contacted after confirming that her
son had been released was Foley's mother, Diane, she told "ABC World
News Tonight."
Peter Theo Curtis, 45, is believed to have been captured in October
2012 and held by al-Nusra Front, a
Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda.
"You learn to get over the panic," Nancy Curtis told CNN's Anderson
Cooper. "You learn to just take each hour as it comes."
Matt Wormser, a Vermont resident and Peter Theo Curtis' former high
school roommate, said it was a "very bittersweet time" for friends and
relatives of the freed hostage, given Foley's death.
"It's been tremendously difficult for Nancy," he said.
The United Nations said Peter Theo Curtis was handed over Sunday to
U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, which is under Israeli
government control, and was given a medical checkup.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Curtis was brought to Tel
Aviv, to undergo some medical evaluations.
"He appears to be in good health," Harf added.
He briefly called his mother from Tel Aviv on Sunday, Nancy Curtis said.
"He said, 'Mom, they're just being so nice to me. They put me in this
wonderful hotel, and I'm drinking a beer, and there are women out
there,' " she recalled. "Because he's been in a cellar for two years,
and he hasn't seen anything, no street life or obviously no women to
be seen, and so he was really excited, and he was thrilled to be in
Tel Aviv and frustrated that he can't go out because the place
apparently is surrounded by paparazzi."
Curtis expressed gratitude to many for helping secure her son's
release, including the FBI, Secretary of State John Kerry,
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Atlantic Media Chairman and owner
David Bradley, U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power and, especially, the
government of Qatar.
"Here's this extraordinary woman, and she said, 'We are going to get
Theo free,' and after we made those contacts, things moved rapidly,"
Curtis said of Alia Al Thani, Qatar's permanent representative to the
United Nations.
Qatar recently helped arrange the exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the
only U.S. service member held by militants in Afghanistan, for five
Taliban detainees held in the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba.
The United States was not involved in negotiations for Peter Theo
Curtis' release but was aware of private efforts to secure the
release, two U.S. law enforcement officials said.
Harf, from the State Department, said Qatari officials "told the
family very clearly that they did not pay ransom" -- something the
United States government, as a policy, doesn't do when dealing with
kidnappers and terrorists.
Peter Theo Curtis' release was announced just five days after ISIS
militants released a video of one of its militants beheading Foley.
His mother said she thinks about other Americans being held in Syria.
No comments:
Post a Comment