KINCARDINE dad Brian Glendinning will rest and recuperate before "telling the world about the horrific experience he was forced to endure at the hands of Qatar".

There was an emotional reunion with his family at Edinburgh Airport as the 43-year-old flew home after nine weeks in captivity in Iraq.

Brian was met by his mother, Meta; his wife; Kimberly; daughters Heidi and Lexi and his brothers; John and Lee; after returning to Scotland on a flight from Istanbul.

He told reporters: “I just didn’t think this time was coming any time soon.

“I’m now back where I belong with my family and my friends.

“It’s just the emotions. I didn’t think I was going to be here any time soon.”

Brian was on his way to a new job at an oil refinery when he was detained at Basra International Airport on September 4 over an unpaid debt to the Qatar National Bank.

He was held and due 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 and Brian had been sentenced to two years in prison in absentia.

He was then held in an overcrowded and "rat-infested" prison cell, alongside murderers and terrorists, as his brother, John, led a desperate campaign to try to get him released.

The family held a demonstration at the Scottish Parliament and local MP Douglas Chapman pressed the UK Government and met with the Qatar ambassador to highlight his case.

A third-party donor settled the debt and the Qatar National Bank confirmed they were no longer seeking Brian's extradition.

He was released last Sunday (November 13), had a celebratory beer after embassy staff took him to a hotel, and arrived at Edinburgh on Saturday.

Brian thanked all those who had supported him and worked to get him freed, including Interpol and extradition crisis manager Radha Stirling, and Mr Chapman, the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, who was also at the airport to greet him.

“If it wasn’t for the support from everybody back home, my family and my friends, Douglas Chapman, Radha Stirling, I would still have been there,” Brian said.

“To be honest, I think I would have been on my way to Qatar and it wouldn’t have been for the World Cup.

“It’s just time to get home and get to the barbers.”

Ms Stirling said: “This is the moment we have been working towards the past five weeks and we’re incredibly relieved to see him back on UK soil.

“Brian is going to take some time to rest and recuperate with his family before telling the world about the horrific experience he was forced to endure at the hands of Qatar, a country who has spent a fortune portraying itself as a tolerant society.

“Once Brian has rested, we intend to push for British safeguards and to hold Qatar to account for the repeated abuse of our citizens."