Kidnapped British journalist freed in Basra

updated 4:47 p.m. ET April 14, 2008

BAGHDAD - Iraqi troops rescued a British journalist for CBS News in the southern city of Basra on Monday two months after he was kidnapped, the Iraqi military said.

The dramatic rescue came on a day that saw 13 people killed and nearly 20 wounded in two bombings in northern Iraq.

Richard Butler was in good condition when he was found with a sack over his head and his hands tied inside a house, Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji said. The discovery came during an Iraqi military sweep in the Jibiliya area, a Shiite militia stronghold in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Defense ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said that an army patrol conducting a search came under fire from the house where Butler was being held. One of the gunmen was wounded in an exchange of fire and another captured while two men escaped, he said.

Butler was later shown on Iraqi state television laughing and greeting his rescuers.

“Thank you and I’m looking forward to seeing my family and my friends at CBS and thank you again,” Butler told al-Askari.

He described the soldiers’ performance as “brilliant.”

In London, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband welcomed Butler’s release and said he was “very grateful to (Iraqi) security forces for the professionalism of the task they have undertaken.”

Also Monday, the U.S. military said it will release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, more than two years after he was detained by U.S. Marines in Iraq on suspicions of links to insurgents. The military said it has determined Hussein is not a threat and plans to free him Wednesday.

In the past week, Iraqi judicial committees dismissed all allegations against Hussein and ordered his release. AP President Tom Curley expressed relief.

Recovering at consulate
Miliband said Butler was in the care of the British consulate in Basra.

In New York, CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said the network was “incredibly grateful that our colleague ... has been released and is safe.”

Butler was kidnapped along with his Iraqi interpreter on Feb. 10 in Basra. The interpreter was later released. Iraqi police and witnesses said the two men were seized by about eight masked gunmen wielding machine guns who stormed a hotel in the city.

In recent days, Iraqi forces have started house-to-house sweeps for arms, weapons, drugs and criminal elements in several parts of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city. The military said it has uncovered an improvised explosive device factory, along with significant arms caches and numerous roadside bombs, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

Serious fighting in Basra has abated since a failed government offensive last month to dislodge militia groups. But sporadic violence has continued.

On Sunday night, gunmen assassinated police Maj. Ali Haider, a commander in the department’s serious crimes directorate. Haider was a member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a Shiite political party that is part of the governing coalition of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The council is often at odds with factions loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Cleric wants deserters rehired
Al-Sadr demanded Monday that the Iraqi government reinstate all security forces fired for deserting during fighting in Basra.

The statement was issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf a day after more than 1,300 soldiers and policemen were dismissed for abandoning their posts or refusing in last month’s Basra fighting.

“All the brothers in the army and police who gave up their arms to their bothers (Sadrists), were only obeying their grand religious leaders and they were driven by their religious duties,” the anti-U.S. cleric said.

“I call upon all concerned authorities to reconsider their decision to dismiss those people from the army and the police. I demand they be reinstated and even rewarded for their loyalty and devotion to their religion,” he added.

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