BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A deal has been struck with the kidnappers of two journalists working for CBS News who were reported missing in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a spokesman for Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Wednesday.
"We have held talks with the kidnappers to release them.They will be released," said Hareth al-Athari the head of thecleric's Basra office, without giving details of when theywould be freed.
CBS issued a statement on Monday saying that two of theirjournalists had gone missing. Police in Basra reported that themen, a British journalist and an interpreter, had been seizedfrom a hotel in the centre of the city.
"We have a dispute with the British forces in Basra butthat doesn't mean we have a dispute with the British people,"Athari told reporters.
The media has regularly been caught in the violence thathas engulfed the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
On Tuesday, the body of local journalist was found incentral Baghdad two days after being kidnapped, Iraq'sJournalistic Freedoms Observatory said in a statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists in a recent reportcalled the Iraq war "the deadliest conflict for journalists inrecent history," with 125 journalists and 49 support workerskilled since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
(Reporting by Michael Holden)
