"Mabrouk - Alan is free."

Last Modified: 04 Jul 2007
By: Kylie Morris

Kylie Morris blogs on the release of her close friend Alan Johnston.

I'm not sure days get better than this.

A day that begins with the best news you can imagine - and friends saying, "wallahey, wallahey, mabrouk - Alan is free."

There's been a lot of congratulation exchanging this morning. As well as tears, and a whole lot of smiling.

I'm fairly sure we crashed the Gaza phone network at one stage. One friend told me this was the best day in Gaza for many, many years.

It was becoming clear that the Army of Islam was cornered, that Hamas was in an increasingly powerful position. But I feared, as I know others did, that cornered kidnappers might not act in the best interests of their hostage.

Happily, I was wrong. To see Alan - a bit thinner - cracking jokes in a press conference, and walking in the company of his closest friends and colleagues in Gaza is a truly happy ending.

He's spoken of his optimism and despair while he was held. I don't know how he survived, I'm just so glad he did.

Of course, his release raises many issues: how Hamas presented him to the world, and the PR plus points they sought in the process; what this says about the way Gaza now works; whether it's safe for foreign journalists now to re-engage and return to reporting there; what is the nature of the authority now held by the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas; and what of the fate of others kidnapped, still held in Gaza and in Iraq?

But these are issues of journalism. They are what we're used to analysing, reporting, writing and broadcasting about.

It's a relief to return to them, rather than worrying over the fate of a friend.