U.S. aid worker credits Trump for release by Egypt

April 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. aid worker jailed in Egypt for three years returned home to Washington, her lawyer said, thanking the White House for help in her release.

Aya Hijazi, 30, was flown home on a U.S. government plane Thursday after she was freed by a Cairo court on April 16. She had been held in pre-trial detention since her May 2014 arrest.

The chief of the Belady Foundation, established to help Egyptian street children, Hijazi was arrested on child abuse and sex trafficking charges, which the U.S. government said were baseless and worldwide activist groups said were part of a roundup of anti-government protesters.

Her release was negotiated during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi, earlier in April, the BBC reported.

"There have been countless numbers of people advocating for Aya Hijazi's freedom," attorney Wade McMullen told NBC News. "I think Trump and his team deserve credit for making this a priority at the most critical time in her case."

Hijazi is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Friday. She has dual Egyptian and U.S. citizenship, and lived in Virginia.