Roaming rebel gangs in frame

Confusion was growing this afternoon over the identity of James Brandon's kidnappers as followers of rebel leader Moqtada al-Sadr appeared to have secured his release.

The finger of blame for the journalist's capture was at first pointed at the radical Shia cleric's Mahdi Army - but a spokesman for Al-Sadr stepped in to help negotiate the reporter's freedom.

Iraq is home to a wide range of insurgent groups lined up against American and British forces and the interim regime in Baghdad. A little-known Shia group calling itself Abu al-Abbas yesterday threatened to kill all those co-operating with British troops in retaliation for America's continuing assault on the holy city of Najaf, where Al-Sadr has his headquarters.

But the most feared faction in Iraq remains the force led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden and a leading figure in al Qaeda. The Jordanianborn-militant has been responsible for some of the worst atrocities of recent months, including the beheading of American hostage Nick Berg.

More than 70 foreigners have been captured, with nine killed, in the current wave of unrest in the country.

But Falah Naquib, the interior minister in the new Baghdad government, has said that kidnappings are due to "75 per cent criminal gangs" and has called the situation a "containable problem".