A reporter for Britain's Guardian newspaper based in Iraq is free after being kidnapped and kept in a dark underground cell for 36 hours.
The newspaper reported Rory Carroll, who was abducted Wednesday, described his captors as Shiite opportunists who released him to the Iraqi government.
Freedom came after one of his captors received a cell phone call.
"He put me in the boot of his car and drove me alone and dropped me in the middle of Baghdad," Carroll said. Although kept in a cell, Carroll said he was well treated by his captors.
"At one point I was told I would be used as a bargaining chip in exchange for (Shiite cleric Moqtada) al-Sadr people taken in Basra," he said. "My fear was that I would be sold on to the Sunni or Islamist groups."
Carroll, who is an Irish citizen, received support from Muslims, Catholic and Protestant clerics, as well as the Irish and British governments. A plea for his release also came from the Iranian government.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
