Reporter Carroll recovering in Green Zone

Irish journalist Rory Carroll was last night released unharmed in Baghdad after he was kidnapped on Wednesday afternoon.

The 33-year-old is understood to have been held handcuffed in the cellar of what he described as a family home.

Shortly after 8pm last night Irish time, Rory was told by his captors that he was free to go.

He is now under the protection of the Iraqi government in the heavily-fortified Green Zone of the city.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern says Rory's Irish nationality was a significant factor in his release and that this was deliberately stressed in negotiation with his captors.

In another development in Baghdad, an attorney representing a former Iraqi judge who is standing trial with Saddam Hussein, has been kidnapped.

Police have confirmed his identity as Saadoun Janab.