Brian Glendinning: Dad freed from Iraq jail after two months has flight home axed & is ‘quizzed’ for an hour at airport
A SCOTS dad who was released from an Iraq jail has had his flight back to Scotland cancelled and was quizzed by cops at the airport.
Brian Glendinning spent two-months in a rat-infested Baghdad prison after the Qatar National Bank issued an Interpol Red Notice on him over an unpaid loan.
After a hard-fought campaign to free the Fife engineer, he was released from prison, where he was locked up with terrorists and murderers, on Sunday.
He was due to come home and reunite with his family this afternoon, but had his flight cancelled over weather conditions in Iraq.
But when the dad-of-three cleared for his flight, he was then taken by the airport authorities and questioned for an hour.
Human Rights campaigner Radha Stirling, who has been working alongside Brian's family to help free him, said: “You can imagine what he must have gone through at that moment.”
Radha told how the latest set back has impacted his family, and laid out fears he could be re-arrested over the red notice if he lands in a Gulf state.
She said: “His family are frustrated and disappointed that he won’t be arriving today and Brian will be exhausted on his return.
"The flights are problematic for the family in that most of them layover in Qatar or the UAE and Brian does not want to go to a Gulf country in case he is re-arrested."
It is hoped Brian will be back in Scotland some time tomorrow morning.
Most read in The Sun
In a message to Radha, Brian thanked her and everyone who helped free him.
He said: “I just wanted to drop you (Radha) a short message to thank you so so much for all your support and efforts you put into getting me the result I needed, FREEDOM!!
“Without you I am certain of it that I would have been going to Qatar and it wasn’t to watch the World Cup that’s for sure.
"I really look forward to speaking with you when I am home and this nightmare is over with”.
We told earlier how the Scots engineer was "jumping with joy" when guards came to release him.
And younger brother John, who had led the family's fight to bring him home, told how their were "screams of joy" as he delivered the news they were waiting for to his wife and kids.
Why was Brian Glendinning in prison?
BRIAN, 43, was working in Qatar in 2016 when it is understood he was pressured to take out a £20,000 loan.
But when Brian took sick and had to return home, he kept paying some off the loan but fell behind on some payments when his sick pay ended and he had to return home.
His family say the bank then took Brian to court in his absence in 2017 for fraud, where he was given a two year jail sentence.
They then claimed the Gulf state had him added to the Interpol red list in 2019 and a warrant was issued.
However, John claims was only valid for six months and was out of date at the time of Brian's arrest in 2022.
When Brian arrived in Iraq to work for a BP oil refinery on September 12 of this year, he was arrested.
John said if Brian was extradited, he faced two years in jail and would not have been allowed to leave Qatar until his debt has been fully paid.
A judge in Basrah requested the warrant papers from Qatar, which has delayed the process and kept Brian in jail.
Brian's family back in Scotland have launched a desperate bid to get him released.
John said when Brian was arrested, he had no idea he was on the red list or that he had been sentenced to a jail term in Qatar.
Brian then spent nine weeks in an Baghdad prison, fearing for his life and imprisoned alongside terrorists and murderers. While surrounded by rats and worrying about his health due to the overcrowding and poor conditions.
Brian was released after a settlement was reached with the bank and their extradition request was dropped.
He was locked up in September of this year, and was forced into a ten-person cell with up to 40 other prisoners, had to share soiled mats for sleeping and use showers with dirty water.
John previously told The Scottish Sun how his brother has a long journey ahead after the horrendous ordeal he suffered.
"There is a positive that he isn't home right away, he is getting some time to process what has happened before he sees his family.
"He has been through a horrific and horrendous experience and when he gets back we'll all keep an eye on him and make sure he is ok.
"Because he hasn't been alone at all for the past nine weeks, he said being by himself for a moment feels like the world has ended and he is the only one left."
As much as John and the Glendinning family welcome the much-awaited news the Brian is a step closer to coming back home, the horrible ordeal won't be over for them until Brian is back in Scotland.
John said: "It won't be over for us until he walks off that tarmac and is back home."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at [email protected] or call 0141 420 5200