Journalist Held Captive by Serbs Returns to Boston : Balkans: His capture was key subject at peace talks. He’s released after pressure from U.S. officials, others.

For nearly two weeks, American journalist David Rohde shared a heated 10-foot-by-20-foot cell with several other men in the Serb-controlled town of Bijeljina in northeastern Bosnia.

At times, his captors told him they might hold him for 10 years, maybe even execute him. Others assured him his release would be imminent.

But after pressure from his family, his editors and U.S. officials, his captors released him, and Rohde--tired but relieved--returned home Friday.

The Eastern Europe correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor said he was arrested while searching for new evidence of large-scale killings by Bosnian Serbs.

“I went into Bosnian Serb territory to find further proof of mass executions around Srebrenica,” Rohde said. “I apologize to my editors and my family for causing them so much pain and worry, but I felt that making the trip was the right thing to do.”

Rohde, based in Zagreb, Croatia, had been credited with being among the first Western journalists to report on mass graves near Srebrenica, a Bosnian city under U.N. protection at the time.

At Boston’s Logan International Airport, Rohde read a brief statement in which he said he felt “embarrassed” by his capture.

He declined to take questions about his 10 days in Bosnian Serb hands, saying he needed to relax and write his own chronicle first.

The 28-year-old journalist was captured at gunpoint Oct. 29. He was released Wednesday.

Rohde’s capture became one of the key subjects at Balkan peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, where U.S. officials met with Serbian and Bosnian Serb leaders to demand his release. His family and colleagues also lobbied there on his behalf.

“I owe these people my freedom and I may very well owe them my life,” he said, gesturing to editors and relatives gathered around him.

Monitor Editor David Cook said Rohde was treated well, although he was “a little roughed up when he was arrested.”

After his arrest, Bosnian Serb rebels said Rohde had illegally crossed into their territory and was spying.

His colleagues at the Monitor said there were times when they feared the worst.

“We got some incredibly scary word that they were thinking of shooting him,” said Faye Bowers, one of Rohde’s editors.

Monitor editors plan to meet with Rohde this weekend to discuss his experiences and his reporting plans for the future. International editor Clayton Jones said no decision has been made yet on whether Rohde will return to the region.

Rohde’s father, Harvey, and older brother, Lee, met him in Amsterdam and flew back with him to Boston.

“It’s pretty exciting after all we’ve been through,” said his younger brother, Erik. “It’s a nice culmination.”