15 January 2006 -- The U.S. military have freed two Iraqi journalists working for international media after holding them for several months.
Ali al-Mashhadani, a cameraman for the British media group Reuters, was arrested in August. Majid Hamid, a correspondent for Reuters and the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyah television, was detained in September.
Reuters says they were held without charge.
A U.S. Army spokesman, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, said Hamid had been suspected to be a threat and was held until he was cleared by a magistrate committee.
Media-rights groups have repeatedly voiced concern at the long and unexplained detentions of journalists by U.S. troops.
(Reuters, AP)