Peter Greste vows to 'party hard' once colleagues freed

Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has vowed to "party hard" once he secures the release of his colleagues from an Egyptian jail.

Greste was freed after spending 400 days behind bars when him, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy were convicted of alleged terror offences.

Judges in Cairo accused the trio of helping the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and sentenced the men to between seven and 10 years.

But Greste was back in his native Australia last night and told a press conference in Brisbane the support for their cause had been "incredible".

Asked how he survived in prison, Greste said him and his colleagues kept themselves physically, mentally and spiritually fit.

The foreign correspondent has only just tasted freedom and said for now he intends to "spend time with the family".

But he hinted he wants to return to work, much to the dismay of his mother Lois.

She joked: "We've always encouraged our children to follow their passion but Peter already knows, we will not go through this again."

Greste said when him and his colleagues were jailed last year, none of them expected it but always thought justice would prevail.

Speaking of Mohamed and Fahmy, who remain in prison, he said: "You can imagine after 400 days in prison with these guys we are all very close and it was very difficult to leave them behind.

"But I'm grateful to be out and I trust that they will follow in due course. It's going to take time but we'll see them out and when we do, I'm going to party with them very, very hard indeed."

Greste also thanked his family, supporters and the media for getting behind the campaign to free him.

He added: "Last night, when I arrived at the airport, I thought there might be a dozen journalists waiting, but it was incredible. I never expected anything like it."