US student thanks Italians for support throughout ordeal

Perugia: Amanda Knox has thanked those Italians who supported her throughout her four years of prison, a day after an appeals court cleared the young American of murdering her British roommate, and freed her.

Knox left her prison outside Perugia on Monday night, less than two hours after the verdict was read out in court. She was expected to leave later yesterday for the United States. Her whereabouts were unknown.

Knox thanked those "who shared my suffering and helped me survive with hope", in a letter to a foundation that seeks to promote ties between Italy and the United States and which has always championed her cause.

Cause celebre

Knox, 24, collapsed in tears after the verdict was read, a stunning reversal in a sensational saga that became a cause celebre in the United States.

Her co-defendant and former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007.

"We're thankful that Amanda's nightmare is over," her younger sister, Deanna Knox, told reporters outside the courthouse.

"She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit."

Prosecutor to appeal

An Italian public prosecutor said yesterday he would appeal against the acquittal of US student Amanda Knox for the murder of her British housemate Meredith Kercher, whose disappointed family vowed that their search for justice would go on.

"We will appeal," prosecutor Giuliano Mignini told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"The [higher] court will decide whether to confirm the first sentence or the second sentence."