>>> the two american hikers enjoying their first full day of freedom in more than two years. as natalie mentioned, following a flight to oman wednesday shane bauer and josh fattal ran down the steps to greet their families and shane 's fiance who was also detained before her release last year and after a few moments alone shane and josh made a brief statement.
>> what is the first thing you're going to do?
>> we are so happy we are free and so relieved we are free. our deepest gratitude goes toward his majesty, the sultan of oman for obtaining our release.
>> two years in prison is too long and we sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners and other unjustly imprisoned people in america and iran.
>> we're now joined by a close friend of josh fattal and creator of the free the hikers website. also joining us is an american journalist who was held for 100 days in the same tehran jail as josh and shane in 2009 . she has written a book about her experience called " between two worlds my life in captivity in iran." good morning to both of you.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> first of all, you have gotten pretty close because of this website that you've been working on, the twitter account, the facebook account, very close with the families. what more might you tell us about how the families and shane and josh are doing today?
>> i guess the biggest thing is they're just feeling extreme, extreme joy to have this ordeal finally, finally over, and to finally be reunited after being separated for so incredibly long.
>> we've been seeing those images there, shane grabbing sarah and kiss herg. he asked her to marry him in prison.
>> yes.
>> poignant moment.
>> yes, yes. she has done an amazing job of, you know, keeping her emotions in check so that she can continue the intense fight pretty much, you know, the instant she was released. so i'm just thrilled for her that she can now focus on her own feelings about being finally reunited.
>> she has e-mailed you since seeing shane and what has she had to say?
>> well, i heard from her, you know, just before actually, just before she saw him and, you know, she was just really anticipating the reunion and -- but being sarah , you know, she said to me, i can't wait to see you see josh. so she was still thinking of others.
>> the release of shane and josh must be -- not only have been emotional to watch for you but also a bit surreal because of your own experience. your situation was different. you were not in jail as long. but what can you tell us? what glimpse can you tell us about what these two young men are facing in their recovery?
>> well, i think it's different for each person who goes through prison, but what i've seen in some others and what i saw in me is that it takes time. at first you just want to spend time with your family and your loved ones because i think you have the renewed or a new gratitude for your family and friends when you go through the experience. then you also want to enjoy freedoms that you didn't have when you were in prison. and for these two men, they were in prison for such a long time. these are just simple freedoms like walking down the street without a blindfold on or being able to shut off a light at night. i don't know if they were handcuffed but i was so going in a car without being handcuffed. these freedoms are very valuable and i think we realize how much we take them for granted when we're deprived of them.
>> were there lingering nightmares, fears for you that you might be expected for these young men?
>> i have had nightmares in the past and i've heard from other prisoners that sometimes they do as well. they come and go. sometimes in the past i've looked over my shoulder to see if somebody is following me. i don't know if these men will go through the same thing but i can say that for many people who go through an ordeal like this i hear that some of them find meaning from this difficult experience and i saw that in some of my cell mates as well who were suffering for standing up for basic human rights but some of them just realized that you can't control your physical atmosphere so you can at least try to control your own attitude and maybe that can help the hikers as they go on to their next stage in life.
>> thank you so much. probably having sarah there also will
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44652414/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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