The U.S. military announced that 419 Iraqi prisoners including five women were released on Thursday, a move that came after kidnappers of a U.S. female reporter demanded for the release of all Iraqi women prisoners.

The release came after a joint Iraq-U.S. panel has finished reviewing the cases of the detainees, according to the military.

Gunmen kidnapped U.S. female reporter Jill Carroll on Jan. 7 and threatened to kill her unless the U.S. military release all Iraqi women prisoners they hold within 72 hours, according to a video aired by the al-Jazeera satellite TV on Jan. 18.

The ultimatum expired last Friday and the fate of Carroll who works for the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor newspaper remained unknown.

The U.S. military said they currently held nine Iraqi female prisoners.

Source: Xinhua