WASHINGTON: The White House said on Tuesday that detained American tourist Jeffrey Fowle had been released by North Korea and was on his way home to be with his family.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed the move but pressed North Korea to release two other US citizens as well.

“While this is a positive decision ... we remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller and again call on the DPRK to immediately release them,” Earnest said, referring to North Korea.

The United States will continue to work actively on those cases, he added.

North Korea made it a condition of Fowle’s release that the US government transport him out of the country. The Department of Defence provided that transportation within the time frame that was set, officials said.

Fowle, 56, a street repair worker from Miamisburg, Ohio, was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a club for foreign sailors in the North Korean city of Chongjin.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014