British hostage released

A British journalist taken hostage in Iraq was dramatically freed this afternoon.

James Brandon, 23, was snatched during the night in Basra by Iraqi gunmen who threatened to kill him within 24 hours.

He was paraded, stripped to the waist and with a masked gunman by his side, in front of video cameras while his captors made their demands.

There were desperate negotiations to secure his release throughout today. It came after the intervention of rebel Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who is surrounded by US troops in Najaf.

In a videotape said to be from the gunmen who snatched Brandon, a masked figure said this afternoon: "As a result of mediation by the office of Al-Sadr, the British hostage will be released and handed over to Al-Sadr's office in Basra."

The Iraqi militants who took Brandon captive had threatened to kill him unless US forces pulled out of Najaf, the scene of bitter fighting for a week.

But hopes for his release rose when Sheikh Salah al Obeidi, a spokesman for Al-Sadr in Baghdad, condemned the kidnapping and said: "I will do my best to end this unacceptable problem."

He added: "We do not accept such actions. Journalists are our brothers, our friends, and they reflect our opinions and they convey our voices to all of the world."

An earlier videotape showed a hooded Iraqi fighter standing next to Brandon, who was working for the Sunday Telegraph and The Scotsman.

In the film, one of his captors demands that American forces withdraw from Najaf or "we will kill this British hostage".

The journalist could only stare bleakly at the camera and then towards his captor. He said: "Telegraph, that's my paper. I'm a journalist, I just write about what is happening in Iraq... (I'm) James Brandon from the Sunday Telegraph."

Asked to give his address, Brandon, replied: "London."

Speaking to the camera, the gunman patted his hostage on the shoulder and declared: "We are the sons of the Iraqi people." Brandon was the first British journalist to be kidnapped in Iraq during the current conflict.

He was captured when 30 gunmen burst into his hotel in the British-held city of Basra. Some of the gunmen were dressed in Iraqi police uniforms when they stormed the Diyafah Hotel.

Owner Mohammed Uglah said they fired at Brandon as he tried to flee, before hitting him across the head and dragging him away. Hotel staff showed reporters a check-in form filled in by the reporter which said he had arrived in Basra on Wednesday. Militants in Iraq have waged a campaign of kidnapping aimed at westerners. Scores of hostages have been seized by armed groups. Some have been freed - including two Japanese journalists captured in April - but nine have been killed.

Calls for Brandon's release were backed today by a senior aide to the most influential Shia cleric in Iraq. Describing the abduction as a "criminal act," Jaffar Bassam said that Ayatollah ali al-Sistani condemned all such crimes. "No one condones this kind of act," Mr Bassam said. "The Grand Ayatollah has called on all kidnappers to release those in captivity."

Tony Blair, in Athens for the opening of the Olympic Games, has been informed. A No10 spokesman said: "We are urgently liaising with the local authorities and we are in touch with his next of kin."

Sunday Telegraph deputy editor Matthew d'Ancona said: "James Brandon-was in Basra filing material for this Sunday's newspaper among other projects. We are pursuing his situation with the greatest concern."

Brandon had also been covering the death of a Black Watch soldier killed in a bomb blast in Basra for The Scotsman. Editor Iain Martin said: "Our foreign staff spoke to James Brandon as recently as last night."

Brandon attended Westminster School in London before taking up a career in journalism. A fluent Arabic speaker, he is thought to be of Egyptian descent and has used a series of names during recent years.

Friends say his British passport includes the names James Andrew Brandon Nassim and that he was known as either Andrew Nassim or James Brandon.

Seb Walker, who used to work on the Evening Standard and now files from Iraq for Reuters, worked with Brandon on the short-lived Baghdad Bulletin.

He said: "He has no fear of going to any place. He is not a nervous guy."

Walker said the situation in Iraq was getting increasingly dangerous for journalists. He said: "We were all in the same boat. It's no good showing up in a 4X4 looking like a foreigner.

"But James would always travel looking like a local in buses or taxis. The risks are pretty high but there's no other way to work."

His kidnapping came only a few hours before Al-Sadr was wounded in the bitter fighting for Najaf.

The cleric, who has led the uprising against coalition and Iraqi troops for more than a week, is said to be trapped in a sacred compound surrounded by members of his Mahdi Army.

He has vowed to fight "until the last drop of my blood has been spilled".

Mass protests against the US assault on Najaf broke out in five Iraqi cities today. Some demonstrators called on Iraq's interim prime minister Iyad Allawi to step down.

In one of the biggest protests, enraged Iraqis in the southern town of Diwaniya swarmed over the local office of his political party, ripping down signs and throwing rocks.