Aunt says free hiker is returning to US, plans to hold news conference in New York

Aunt says free hiker is returning to US with mom

BERKELEY, Calif. — The aunt of an American woman released from an Iranian prison says her niece plans to hold a news conference in New York.

Sarah Shourd’s aunt, Karen Sandys (san-dees), told The Associated Press on Friday that Shourd and her mother will travel Saturday from Oman to New York.

Sandys says the news conference is planned for Monday, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

Sandys says her niece is focused on securing the freedom of her friends, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer.

The three University of California, Berkeley graduates were arrested and imprisoned by Iran in July 2009. Their families say they were on an innocent hiking trip along the border of Iran and Iraq.