Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Basra Office Condemns Journalists’ Kidnapping
BAGHDAD (AP) — The kidnapping of two CBS journalists in Iraq is being condemned by the office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The director of al-Sadr’s Basra office is demanding that they be released.
Iraqi police say a British reporter and his Iraqi interpreter were kidnapped by eight masked gunmen from a hotel in Basra Sunday morning. A security official says one man has been detained in connection with the kidnapping.
CBS isn’t identifying the journalists. The network says it’s been in touch with their families and “asks that their privacy be respected.”
Basra is a predominantly Shiite city and has seen fierce fighting between rival militias amid a power struggle in the oil-rich region of southern Iraq.
