After 82 days in captivity, American journalist Jill Carroll, was released by her abductor and dropped off at Sunni Arab political offices this morning. Her friends at the Washington Post were the first reporters to be contacted. (Soak it up folks — after today we will all forget about her survival and start fighting over who gets the first interview.)

"I was never hurt, ever hit," she told a Washington Post reporter. "I was kept in a safe place and treated very well." Carroll, 28, a freelance reporter working for the Christian Science Monitor, arrived safely at the party headquarters just after 1 p.m.

So far we know that she has spoken with her father and is being taken care of by Islamic political leaders. After her kidnapping in western Baghdad on January 7, members of her family along with the journalism community lobbied diligently for her release. Videos released from Iraq on January 17 and February 9, in which Carroll asked her supporters to do whatever was necessary to gain her release.

The story aired on Good Morning America this morning, where Charlie Gibson pointed out that this was a release, not a rescue, but as far as we know, none of her captors' demands for money or the release of female Iraqis were met.

Carroll knew little about who was holding her captive, but said she was allowed to watch TV once and was taken for a shower. No TV for 82 days? Torturous.

Journalist Jill Carroll Released in Iraq [Jonathan Finer and Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post]