On Sunday, the Nusra Front, an affiliate of al Qaeda, released U.S. freelance journalist Peter Theo Curtis, handing him over to United Nations personnel at the Israel-Syria border. Curtis, 45, was abducted in Antakya, Turkey, in October 2012 as he was preparing to cross into Syria.
Curtis' family asked Qatar to act as intermediaries, and said they were assured no ransom was paid to the Nusra Front, that the emirate was negotiating his release "on a humanitarian basis without the payment of money." It's not clear what other concessions were made.
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