Almotamar.net Google news - LONDON: Five Britons kidnapped in Iraq were safe but will not be released unless Britain meets demands made by their captors, a senior Iraqi government source said, according to a British Sunday newspaper.
Representatives of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army have demanded an end to British patrols in the southern city of Basra and also to attempts to kill its leaders, the paper reported, citing the source.
The militia are also seeking the release of nine Mahdi officials from British and American custody, including Sheik Abdul al-Hadi Darraji, al-Sadr's chief spokesman who was detained by American troops in January, it said.
The five Britons, four private security workers and an IT consultant, were kidnapped from the finance ministry on Tuesday in an audacious raid. In public statements, the Mahdi Army has denied any involvement in the abductions.
But the Sunday Times reported that an al-Sadr official visited Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to tell him the men were "safe and sound" but would not be free until the demands were met.
Source: Associated Press