BBC: UK soldiers 'freed from militia'
Two British soldiers freed after tanks broke into a Basra prison were being held by Shia militiamen, the Ministry of Defence said.
The MoD said the men had been found at a nearby house after troops broke into the city's prison to look for them.......
An MoD spokesman said: "Two British soldiers were detained and taken to an Iraqi police station. We then started negotiating with the Iraqi authorities for their release. "We understand that the authorities ordered their release. Unfortunately they weren't released and we became concerned for their safety and as a result a Warrior infantry fighting vehicle broke down the perimeter wall in one place.
"Our guys went in there and searched it from top to bottom in order to go and recover our two soldiers who had been detained. "They weren't there unfortunately but we did obtain intelligence that pointed to where they were. We then launched another operation to recover them, from a house in Basra."......
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No doubt to be held as hostages in exchange for Sheikh Ahmed al-Fartusi.