Dalelv had said she remained hopeful that she would succeed in an appeal against the ruling by a Dubai court that convicted her last week of extramarital sex, perjury and consuming alcohol without a permit.
She reported the rape to police back in March and was immediately detained, being released four days later with the assistance of Norwegian diplomats.
The young woman has since been staying at the Norwegian Seamen’s Centre in Dubai.
Norwegian authorities had agreed to pay for legal fees after she spent 55,000 Norwegian kronor (7,000 euros) on legal assistance, she said.
Eide has said it was “very strange that a person who reports rape is sentenced for acts which in our part of the world is not even a crime.”
But according to Kathrine Raadim, the foreign minister’s political advisor, it was out of the question for Norway to react by recalling its ambassador to the Gulf emirate.
Dalelv’s appeals hearing was to have taken place on September 5, before she was called to appear at the public prosecutor’s office and informed of the pardon on Monday.
“Marte was a victim of her boss’s moral corruption,” her lawyer Azab told reporters.
Dalelv, who had come to Dubai on a business trip from Doha when the incident took place, told AFP that she has not yet decided if she will go back to Qatar.
Her boss, a Sudanese identified as Hawari in his 30s, “was also handed back his passport” and freed, Azab said.
A petition on campaign group Avaaz for her release had obtained over 72,000 signatures while several Facebook groups were set up to demand her freedom.
About The Author
