ABOUT 24 top former officials in Saddam Hussein’s regime, including a biological weapons expert known as ‘Dr Germ’, have been released from jail, while a militant group released a video yesterday of the purported killing of an American hostage.

An extremist group posted a video on a website today showing a man it said was an American hostage being shot in the back of the head, and the German government said one of its citizens released by kidnappers was expected to leave Iraq.