"A day I thought would never come."
These were the first words uttered by Peter Greste’s mother at a media conference in Brisbane this morning following her son’s release from a Cairo jail.
Lois Greste was joined by husband Juris and son Andrew, who read a short statement on behalf of the family.
"[Peter] is currently with our brother Mike in Cyprus where he is gathering his thoughts for the trip home," Andrew said.
"He is safe, healthy and very, very happy to be on his way home."
Andrew Greste paid tribute to the family's many supporters including SBS Europe correspondent Brett Mason, their local Egyptian fixer and Peter's employers.
He also acknowledged Peter's jailed colleagues, Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed and Canadian-Egyptian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, and said the family would continue to fight for their release.
"We want to acknowledge that Peter's two colleagues are still there...we hope your struggle will end very soon."
Rumours began circulating yesterday of Peter's possible release and Andrew apologised to media for ignoring interview requests in that time, saying the family had not intended to ignore them but "didn't want anything to jeopardise Peter's freedom."
He said their thoughts were with the people of Egypt.
"We hope your country can move towards a safe, stable and prosperous democracy," he said.
MORE TO COME
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