Sadrists condemn journalists' kidnapping

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's office on Tuesday condemned the kidnapping of two CBS journalists in the southern city of Basra, while Iraqi police said an intensive search was under way for the men.

Iraqi police and witnesses said the kidnapping occurred Sunday morning when about eight masked gunmen wielding machine guns stormed the Sultan Palace Hotel and seized a British reporter and his Iraqi interpreter. A security official said one man had been detained in connection with the kidnapping.

Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, has seen fierce fighting between rival Shiite militias as part of a power struggle in the oil-rich south.

The Sadrists were quick to distance themselves from the disappearance of the journalists.

"We condemn the kidnappings of journalists, and we demand the release of the British journalist and the Iraqi interpreter," Harith al-Edhari, a director of al-Sadr's office in Basra, told reporters. "Our office condemns such events and we call on security forces to help in their release.".

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Has there been any word who the CBS journalists are?

[ohio2007]

2. Didn't Iran fill the void in Basra after the British downsized?

of course al Sadre would condemn hostage taking