Al-Sadr calls for release of kidnapped journalist

Top aides to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on kidnappers to immediately free a western journalist they had threatened to kill unless US forces withdrew from the holy city of Najaf.

The pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera reported that a militant group calling itself the Martyrs Brigade had abducted US journalist Micah Garen and would kill him within 48 hours if their demands were not met.