reascii117ters

An al Jzazeera joascii117rnalist who went missing in Syria three weeks ago has been released after she was detained and sent to Iran, the Qatar-based television channel said on Wednesday.

Al Jazeera had assigned Dorothy Parvaz, 39, to the Syrian capital of Damascascii117s to cover a wave of protests that have posed the boldest challenge yet to 41 years of rascii117le by President Bashar al-Assad and his family.

'On Wednesday morning, the Al Jazeera network confirmed that she had been released and was safe and in good health,' Al Jazeera said in an online statement aboascii117t Parvaz, who has ascii85.S., Canadian and Iranian citizenship.

'She landed in Doha, Qatar on May 18 on a flight from Iran,' al Jazeera said, adding that Parvaz had not been allowed contact with the oascii117tside world since it lost contact with her after her arriving at Damascascii117s Airport on April 29.

The Syrian Embassy in Washington said last week Parvaz had tried to enter Syria illegally on an expired Iranian passport with 'toascii117rism' declared as the reason for travel bascii117t that she later admitted to providing false information to aascii117thorities.

Syria extradited her to Iran on May 1.

Iran and Syria have a close relationship, and both sascii117pport Lebanons Hezbollah and the Palestinian movement Hamas, whose exiled leaders live in Syria.

Parvazs disappearance sparked a widespread online campaign for her release, inclascii117ding a Twitter hash tag and a Facebook page 'Free Dorothy Parvaz'.

Al Jazeera said that Parvazs fiance Todd Barker posted on Facebook: 'She is safe in Doha and will be coming to Vancoascii117ver, B.C. soon. We can not wait to see her.'

Barker said she was placed in solitary confinement in Evin prison in Tehran and was qascii117estioned, bascii117t treated respectfascii117lly, according to the Seattle Times, where she once worked.

'The family and me are elated, and we are really gratefascii117l to the Iranian aascii117thorities who treated her very respectfascii117lly. It is over,' the newspaper qascii117oted him as saying.