PETALUMA, Calif. -- A Belarusian teenager who touched off an international dispute when she refused to return home from a summer program is now back in Belarus.

Sixteen-year-old Tanya Kazyra had been staying with the Zapata family in Petaluma every summer for nine years as part of an exchange program for children from regions affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

But when it came time to fly back after this year's visit, Kazyra refused. She told officials that her father was abusive and her life in Belarus was grim.

The move caused a rift in diplomatic circles, prompting her native country to halt its exchange and adoption programs to the U.S.

An official with the Chernobyl exchance program says Kazyra was persuaded to change her mind after talking to a priest. Cecelia Calhoun, of the Children of Chernobyl U.S. Alliance, says the teen has been allowed to live with her grandmother.