US releases five Iranians in Iraq

The arrests sparked a row between Washington and Tehran

Five Iranian officials held by the US military in Iraq since January 2007 have been freed.

A spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki confirmed the five, said by Iran to be diplomats, had been handed over to Iraqi officials.

US forces seized the five in the northern city of Irbil on suspicion of arming and funding Shia militias.

Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, said they were expected soon at the Iranian embassy.

The Fars news agency quoted him as saying the five "kidnapped by American occupying forces have been handed over to Iraq's prime minister".

'Private matter'

Yasin Majeed, a media advisor for Iraq's premier, confirmed the Iraqi side had received the five.

The US military said it could not confirm the releases.

"Transfers and releases are a private matter between [the US military] and the government of Iraq," Capt Brad Kimberly said in an E-mail to Reuters news agency.

Under a key security agreement with the Baghdad government, the US military, which holds thousands of people in jails in Iraq, is obligated to hand all detainees to Iraqi control.

After the arrests, Washington said the five Iranians had no diplomatic status, but Tehran accused the US of breaching international diplomatic regulations.

The Iraqi authorities said at the time the five Iranians had been in Irbil with official approval, but that their office had not yet been granted full consulate status.

US authorities had said the five included a senior member of Iran's Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards.

Washington accused the force of helping arm and train some Iraqi militants, a claim Tehran denies.

The former US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, once accused Mr Kazemi-Qomi of belonging to the Quds Force