Kidnapped UK journalist released

Earlier on Friday, James Brandon, 23, was taken to the Basra office of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and freed.

His kidnappers, who had threatened to kill him on a video, had treated him well once they knew he was a journalist, Brandon said.

He was kidnapped by masked gunmen from his hotel room in Basra on Thursday.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said it was "relieved" he had been freed, adding: "He is safe and well and in the hands of the British Office in Basra."

In a hastily arranged press conference after his release, Brandon, from London, thanked his kidnappers.