A man who was held in an Iraqi jail over an unpaid debt had an emotional reunion with his family when he returned to Scotland.
Brian Glendinning, 43, arrived at Edinburgh airport on Saturday after being held in a prison in Iraq.
He had been working at an oil refinery there and was arrested on an Interpol red notice at Baghdad airport on 12 September over an alleged debt owed to the Qatar National Bank.
He was met by his mother, Meta; his wife, Kimberly; daughters Heidi and Lexi; and his brothers John and Lee at Edinburgh after returning to Scotland on a flight from Istanbul.
Speaking to journalists at the airport, Glendinning said: “I just didn’t think this time was coming any time soon.”
The construction worker added he was now “back where I belong with my family and my friends”.
Glendinning continued: “It’s just the emotions. I didn’t think I was going to be here any time soon.”
He thanked all those who had supported him and worked to get him freed, including Radha Stirling, the founder of the Interpol and Extradition Reform (Ipex) initiative, and Douglas Chapman, the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, who was also at the airport to greet him.
“If it wasn’t for the support from everybody back home, my family and my friends, Douglas Chapman, Radha Stirling, I would still have been there,” Glendinning said.
“To be honest, I think I would have been on my way to Qatar and it wouldn’t have been for the World Cup.”
He was unable to shave during the time in prison – with his brother John saying there had been only one communal shaver in the jail, where Glendinning had been kept in “vile” conditions.
Glendinning joked: “It’s just time to get home and get to the barbers.”