Peru on Sunday hailed the release of Peruvian photographer Jaime Razuri who was kidnapped in Gaza on Jan. 1.

"I am crying with joy!" Delia Razuri, his mother, told an Israeli radio station. She said she had just talked to her son on the phone, and had asked him to come home soon.

Razuri, a photographer working for the Agency France Press (AFP), was kidnapped by four gunmen on his way back to the AFP office in Gaza from an assignment, becoming the first Latin American to be kidnapped in the Middle East. He was released unhurt earlier on Sunday

Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaude thanked all those who had made contributions to Razuri's release hours after the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) handed the photographer to AFP at the office of Mahmoud Abbas, president of the PNA. Garcia listed the governments of Spain, Egypt, France, the PNA and the United Nations as contributors in the effort to secure his release.

Calling Razuri's release a "great victory," Garcia said his government had not negotiated with the kidnappers.

Governments of Chile, Bolivia, El Salvador, Ecuador and Panama as well as some non-governmental organization had also called for the photographer's release.

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, an aide for Abbas, said "faithful" members of the Doghmosh clan in Gaza had helped the release of Razuri.

But no group had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Razuri was expected to leave Gaza for Israel later on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua