Kidnappers release 18 Iraqi soldiers

Eighteen Iraqi National Guards taken for hostages have been freed by an Islamist group, Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported on Monday.

The kidnappers, known as the Mohammed bin Abdullah Brigades, released late Monday the 18 soldiers they had threatened to kill unless a Shiite cleric was immediately released.

The group did so at the request of Moqtada al-Sadr, a young Shiite cleric who had led an uprising against the US-led coalition forces throughout the central southern Iraq this year, according to the channel.

With a short video aired, the channel reported on Sunday the armed men would kill the 18 hostages if Hazem al-Araji, one of Sadr's senior aides in Baghdad, was not released within 48 hours.

Araji and his brother were arrested during a US-Iraqi joint raid on their house in the capital city the day before, when the militant Shiites refused in a new round of negotiation with US forces to lay down their arms.

Sadr group had denied any involvement in the kidnapping. It was not known if Araji had been released.

Source: Xinhua