South African doctor returns home after nine-month limbo over UAE death

A South African doctor detained in the United Arab Emirates on a decade-old manslaughter charge has returned home after nine months in limbo, declaring: "It's wonderful to be out of that bloody place."

Cyril Karabus, 78, had been convicted without his knowledge of killing a young leukaemia patient in Abu Dhabi in 2002. He was arrested in Dubai last August while in transit to South Africa from Canada.

Karabus was acquitted in March but endured countless setbacks and bureaucratic wrangling before finally boarding a flight to Cape Town, where he was greeted with wild cheers and tearful hugs from family members and supporters.

"It's fantastic," said Karabus, meeting his three-month-old grandson, Gabriel, for the first time. "I didn't realise what the welcome would be. It's unbelievable the number of people who are at the airport."