A French-American reporter has been released by an Iraqi group that had held him hostage in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya.
Mr Micah Garen who was seized last week told the Arab satellite television Al Jazeera that he was "very grateful to everyone who worked to protect me and guarantee my release".
He was speaking from the Nassiriya office of rebel Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"Today he was brought to the office of Sheikh Sadr in Nassiriya and he is now there. We have called the human rights body in Nassiriya to come and receive him," an aide to Sadr, told Al Jazeera.
Mr Garen, of New York-based company Four Corners Media, said he was seized while taking pictures with a small camera at a market in Nassiriya.
"People misunderstood what I was taking pictures of. There was a misunderstanding," he said without elaborating. His comments were translated into Arabic by the channel.
A group calling itself the Secret Action Group of the Mehdi Army said in an Internet statement on Friday it was holding a US journalist hostage and would release him on Saturday because he was opposed to US administration policies.
The statement did not name its captive but appeared to be referring to Mr Garen who was kidnapped last week.
Militants in Iraq began a campaign of kidnapping aimed at driving out individuals and firms supporting US forces and the new Iraqi interim administration. Some hostages have been released, but at least nine have been killed.