A 24-year-old Canadian woman was poised to fly out of Saudi Arabia Sunday night after two and a half years of self-described captivity at the hands of her father.
Nazia Quazi, a former University of Ottawa student who says she was kept against her will in Riyadh, texted her boyfriend Bjorn Singhal Sunday with a message he had long awaited.
"Im gonna c u soon," it read.
Mr. Singhal, who lives in Dubai, said Ms. Quazi was booked on an Emirates flight to Dubai at 9 p.m. Canadian time, which would be Monday morning in Saudi Arabia. A few hours before the scheduled departure, she e-mailed him saying that she had retrieved her Canadian passport and money that she had entrusted to the Canadian embassy for safekeeping.
Soon after midnight in Riyadh, the couple spoke by phone and Ms. Quazi said she was about to head to the airport, Mr. Singhal said.
If successful, her exit from Saudi Arabia would mark the end of a lengthy ordeal. The information-technology graduate was brought to Riyadh, where her father lives and works, for a visit; but the father, Quazi Malik Abdul Gaffar, then confiscated his daughter's documents, including her Canadian and Indian passports, and gained power over her comings and goings.
Under Saudi law, he became guardian over his daughter and could prevent her from leaving.
Mr. Abdul Gaffar appears to have disapproved of his daughter's relationship with Mr. Singhal, whose mother is Muslim but whose father is Hindu. The pair met at the University of Ottawa.
This month, Ms. Quazi's mother and brother flew from Ottawa to Riyadh to try to help resolve the issue. Ms. Quazi's father may also have been influenced by unfavorable media coverage in Canada, Mr. Singhal said from Dubai.
"He did not bow down to anything, except for the media," said Mr. Singhal.
Hope for a breakthrough has made Ms. Quazi anxious in recent weeks, said Shahla Khan Salter of the group Muslims for Progressive Values Ottawa, which has rallied support around Ms. Quazi.
"She's been very anxious because she wants to get out very badly," she said. "It's been very difficult for her. She's been very hopeful but very anxious about it."
On Saturday, Ms. Quazi e-mailed Ms. Khan Salter, saying she was leaving the compound where she'd been living, and was heading to her father's house, a further step in obtaining authorization to leave.
"Wish me luck," she wrote.
Both Mr. Singhal and Ms. Quazi's supporters in Canada remained cautious about her departure from Saudi Arabia, since her father ultimately still had the power to thwart her plans.
"I still have to see them at the airport to believe that all this is actually happening," Mr. Singhal said Sunday evening, soon after his girlfriend told him over the phone that she was heading to the airport.
Foreign Affairs in Ottawa said Sunday that "consular officials at the Canadian embassy in Saudi Arabia and in Canada are aware of a case involving a Canadian citizen who is seeking assistance to depart Saudi Arabia."
"Canadian officials have been actively providing the Canadian citizen with consular assistance and support. Due to the Privacy Act, we cannot comment on specific details of this case."