Reunion joy for freed hostage
Afghan hostage Annetta Flanigan returned home to Northern Ireland tonight for an emotional reunion with her family.
Ms Flanigan, who spent a few days on holiday after being released from 27 days in captivity, flew into Belfast City Airport.
Although her movements were kept under close secret, she was expected to head straight for the village of Richhill, Co Armagh where friends and neighbours prayed with relatives for her freedom.
A Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman confirmed: “She has arrived back in Northern Ireland and is spending some time with her family.”
No one was available for comment at the Flanigan home tonight.
The lawyer was abducted at gunpoint with two others in the Afghan capital Kabul on October 28 as they helped run presidential elections.
Kosovan Shqipe Habibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan were the others seized.
The ordeal plunged Ms Flanigan’s family into an anxious near month-long wait for news.
Messages of support flooded in from around the world, and after her release they spoke of their relief from the “terrible anxiety” of her imprisonment.
Ms Flanigan is believed to have been accompanied by her husband Jose for her return to Northern Ireland.
