Militant linked to British hostages freed

[unhappycamper]

Militant linked to British hostages freed
By Saad Abdul-Kadir - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 5, 2010 16:38:34 EST

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government has released the leader of a militant Shiite group linked to the 2007 kidnapping of five Britons, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Alaa al-Taii said Qais al-Khazali was freed on Sunday, after his transfer several days earlier from U.S. to Iraqi custody.

Al-Khazali is the head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous. He was detained over an attack that killed five U.S. soldiers in January 2007 in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad.

After his arrest, his group was linked to the kidnapping of five Britons.

Men wearing military uniforms seized Peter Moore, a 36-year-old computer expert, and his four bodyguards outside the Finance Ministry in a daring daytime raid in May 2007.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_militant_freed_010510/