U.S. hiker freed from Iran on her way home

MUSCAT, Oman - An American woman released from Iran after more than 13 months in custody began her journey back to the United States yesterday after asking her supporters to "extend your prayers" to her fiance and another American man who remain in Tehran accused of spying.

In a brief statement, Sarah Shourd thanked Oman - an ally of both Iran and the United States - for mediating the $500,000 bail that led to her freedom earlier this week. But she made no mention of her ordeal inside Tehran's notorious Evin Prison or any health problems - which her mother has said include a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

"Please, please extend your prayers" to the other two Americans still held - her fiance, Shane Bauer, and their friend Josh Fattal - she said at Oman's international airport before boarding an Oman Air flight on the first leg of her trip home, accompanied by her mother, Nora, and an uncle.

She arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Oman late yesterday. She was next scheduled to appear at a news conference in New York today timed to coincide with the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Shourd, 32, appeared in good spirits and less gaunt than when she stepped off a private Omani jet late Tuesday after her release from Iran.

The three Americans were detained in July 2009 along the Iraqi border. Iran has issued espionage-related indictments.