Embassy awaits freed kidnap victim

FREED kidnap victim Aidan Leahy will complete the first stage of his homecoming when he is handed over to officials at the Irish Embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, this morning.

Mr Leahy was released from captivity along with two German travelling companions during Saturday night/Sunday morning after 26 days in the hands of a gang thought to be drug smugglers. His family said last night they were “over the moon” at his safe release and could not wait to see him again, but asked for privacy until their son was back on Irish soil.

A spokeswoman for the Irish Red Cross, which intervened at diplomatic level to ask Iran to make every effort to secure Mr Leahy's release, said the family just wanted Aidan back home. “They feel they don't know enough about what happened yet to talk about it. They are also very conscious of the terrible tragedy of the earthquake in Iran and feel it puts their ordeal in perspective.”

Mr Leahy, whose age has been given as in his 30s and also as 41, is a London-based mechanic with family ties in the Midlands. A keen traveller, he was cycling from Turkey through Iran to Pakistan when he was snatched with the two other men between Zahedan and Bam, the city devastated by last Friday's earthquake.

Iranian news agencies have reported they were taken on December 2, although their capture was not widely acknowledged until December 8. Iranian security forces launched a major search. The gang were reported to be demanding a ransom of 5 million.

The Iranian government said it would not pay any ransom and asked Ireland and Germany not to make any payment. A Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said last night no money was paid by the Irish Government.

Confusion hangs over the identity of the kidnappers, who were thought to be one of the drugs gangs who trade across the Pakistani and Afghani borders and along the isolated desert routes into south-eastern Iran. One such gang had suffered a 5 million setback when Iranian police seized a consignment of drugs shortly before the kidnap. However, there were reports from Iran yesterday that the gang had taken their orders from abroad, leading to suggestions of al-Qaida links. Iran's information ministry said the claims were being examined.

Details were scarce last night about the events leading to the men’s release.

It is not clear whether the gang was arrested or freed the men voluntarily.

Mr Leahy will be asked to give a detailed account of his capture to police in Iran before leaving the country. He is expected to return to Ireland later this week.