British journalist rescued

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi troops freed a kidnapped British journalist for CBS News on Monday after finding him hooded and bound in a house during a raid in a Shiite militia stronghold in Basra.

Richard Butler’s rescue after two months in captivity was a welcome success story for the Iraqi military, which has been strongly criticized for its effort to impose order on Iraq’s second-largest city, an oil hub 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.

It came on a day in which nearly 40 people were killed or found dead nationwide — half of them in bombings near or in the northwestern city of Mosul.

Roadside bombings killed two U.S. soldiers, one in Baghdad and the other in the northern Salahuddin province, the military said. At least 4,034 members of the American military have died since the war started in March 2003.

Butler, 47, was thin but in good condition and laughing as he was shown on Iraqi state television hugging well-wishers and greeting beaming Iraqi officials.

“Thank you and I’m looking forward to seeing my family and my friends at CBS and thank you again,” said Butler, who was working as a producer for “60 Minutes” when he was kidnapped.

“I’m pretty weak and I’ve lost quite a bit of weight,” he said later. “I’m looking forward to a decent meal.”

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the troops were not in fact looking for Butler. He said an army patrol conducting a sweep of the area responded after coming under fire from the house where he was being held in the Jibiliya neighborhood.

One of the gunmen was wounded in an exchange of fire and another was captured while two men escaped, he said.

When asked by al-Askari on Iraqi television if the Iraqi army was good, Butler said it was “brilliant.”

“The Iraqi army stormed the house and overcame my guards and they burst through the door,” Butler said. “I had my hood on, which I had to have on all the time, and they shouted something at me and I pulled my hood off.”

Basra security commander Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji said Butler was sitting on the floor with his head covered by a sack and his hands tied when the troops stumbled upon him.