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Kidnapped CBS Journalist Freed In Iraq

By CBS

Freelance Producer Working For 60 Minutes Rescued After 2 Months In Captivity Kidnapped CBS Journalist Freed In Iraq

Published: Mon, April 14, 2008 - 9:51 am Last Updated: Mon, April 14, 2008 - 9:54 am

(CBS) A CBS journalist kidnapped in the southern Iraqi city of Basra two months ago has been freed.

Basra security commander Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji told the Associated Press Monday the journalist had been rescued in an operation that also led to the capture of the suspected kidnappers. CBS News confirmed that Richard Butler, a veteran freelance journalist of British nationality, was free.

Butler appeared in television video, shot by Dubai-based al-Arabiya television, among Iraqi security and political officials in Basra. He was thin, but in good condition. His family was immediately notified.

Speaking to the al-Arabiya reporter, Butler described the raid by Iraqi forces that led to his freedom, saying he was wearing a hood that his captors made him keep almost all the time, but he could hear the troops burst into the building.

Butler was working as a producer for 60 Minutes when he was taken by gunmen, along with his Iraqi translator, from the Sultan Palace Hotel early on the morning of Feb. 10, 2008.

The translator was released several weeks ago.

CBS had refrained from releasing the men's identities or details surrounding their disappearance pending their safe release.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer says tension started to build quickly after the translator's release, as Butler remained missing and violence in Basra intensified.

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 city is dominated by forces loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

An offensive waged by Iraqi troops to try and wrest control of the crucial city from al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias ended about one week ago, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki claiming victory. Relative calm was restored quickly after al-Sadr ordered his fighters to stand down. Hundreds of Iraqis on both sides of the clashes died in the fighting.

"So many people, both inside CBS News and outside, have been working tirelessly on Richard's behalf," Sean McManus, president of CBS News, said in a statement. "We are deeply grateful to all who have worked so hard to make this day a reality."