A KINCARDINE dad who was held in a Baghdad jail for two months was sipping a beer in a hotel on Sunday night and preparing to fly home on after being freed.

Brian Glendinning had been detained and was to be extradited to Qatar for missed payments on a £20,000 loan that he took out in 2016.

A red notice had been issued by Interpol – he had been sentenced to two years in absentia – and he was arrested at Basra International Airport on September 4 and held in an overcrowded and "rat-infested" prison cell.

However, he is now free and is expected to be back in Scotland this week.

His brother and best friend, John Glendinning, spoke to him and said: "He’s in the hotel. I’ve seen a photo of him with a beer and I’m so happy he's free.

"It was really emotional for the family. Even our father teared up and he never cries.

"Kimberly, the children, they can breathe again. Now it’s just hours until they are together.”

The family mounted a campaign to get his freedom and, last week, a third-party donor settled the debt and the Qatar National Bank said they were no longer seeking Brian's extradition.

Radha Stirling, the extradition crisis consultant and Interpol expert, who has been working to get Brian back home, said: "I am thrilled to announce that British construction engineer Brian Glendinning has been released from Baghdad jail.

“Brian’s lawyer, Tahseen Alchaabawi, gave us the good news [on Sunday]. It was an emotional moment for his family and I couldn’t be happier for the Glendinnings.

“Brian has been collected by embassy staff and taken to a secure hotel where he will stay tonight.

"His family are arranging flights and hope he could be home as soon as tomorrow night or Wednesday."

She continued: "We are all extremely grateful to all of those who rallied together to support Brian.

"Hundreds of people donated to his GoFundMe to help with legal bills and attended a demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament.

"Douglas Chapman, MP, has made every effort to pressure the UK Government to use diplomatic channels to free Brian and we thank him and members of the British Government and embassy for their assistance.”

Mr Chapman, the Dunfermline and West Fife MP, added: "I am absolutely delighted for Brian and his family and I hope to meet with him when he returns to Kincardine in the next few days.

"I met personally with the Qatar ambassador last week and pushed for Brian to be released as any debt he had was extinguished and we had documentary proof from the bank that no debt existed.

"The conditions he was being held in were atrocious and we've all worked hard to get the extradition order quashed, have Brian released and returned to his family back home in Scotland.

"It's been a good week in the office."

However, Ms Stirling sounded a note of caution and said: "Qatar has not confirmed that they have removed the Interpol red notice so there is an element of risk that Brian could be re-arrested en route to Scotland.

"This would be disastrous for Qatar and for Interpol.

“I will be taking a full statement from Brian when he returns to Scotland for use in a class action against Interpol for its consistent and repetitive abuse of power."