By Kim Stephens
Peter Greste was on his way home to Brisbane on Wednesday night, and expected to arrive in the early hours of Thursday.
The freed Australian journalist, whose Brisbane-based family spearheaded a year-long campaign for his release from an Egyptian prison, was scheduled to touch down at 1am.
Peter Greste is expected to arrive in his home city Brisbane on Thursday. Credit: AP/Al Jazeera
Mr Greste was on temporary assignment in Egypt for Middle Eastern news service Al Jazeera in December 2013, when he and two colleagues, Egypt bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohammed, were arrested and charged with aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
Following a trial widely regarded as farcical, Mr Greste was last year sentenced to seven years in jail.
Peter Greste's first tweet since being freed from prison showed him in the sea in Cyprus. Credit: @PeterGreste
He was suddenly released this week after a concerted campaign by journalists worldwide and protracted negotiations between Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The award-winning correspondent was freed and deported on Sunday and he immediately flew with his brother to Cyprus.
For the first time on Tuesday, since spending 400 days in a tiny cell in Cairo's Tora Prison, Mr Greste posted a widely shared picture of himself standing in the ocean with the words, "Free in Cyprus! Feels sweet".
Mr Greste and his brother Mike departed Larnaca airport early Wednesday, Brisbane time, where Mr Greste told the ABC he was "elated" to be going home.
But he again expressed concern for the colleagues he left behind.
Mr Fahmy, a dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen, is thought to be close to release, after his family said on Tuesday he had renounced his Egyptian citizenship in a bid to pave the way for his deportation. Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said Mr Fahmy's release was "imminent".
Mr Fahmy's surrender of his Egyptian passport is a necessary first step for him to be released and deported as a foreign national under a decree issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in November.
.
"He signed the papers more than a week ago" giving up his Egyptian citizenship, a relative of Mr Fahmy said.
"It was very hard for him because he is a proud Egyptian who comes from a family of military servicemen."
An Egyptian official following the case said: "The final legal procedures for his deportation are being completed."
At a media conference in Brisbane on Monday, Mr Greste's elated parents Juris and Lois and brother Andrew, confirmed the long-awaited news of his release.
"I'm ecstatic. I just can't say how happy I am about it," Mrs Greste said.
"It's also difficult to realise that this day has actually come. Even though I sort of dreamed about it quietly not daring to think about it too much, it's arrived now."