Kidnapped Iraqi journalist set free in Baghdad

Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi is a prominent critic of Iraq's endemic corruption, government mismanagement

An Iraqi journalist who was abducted from her Baghdad home last week has been released.

"Thank God, I'm fine," Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi told the local NRT satellite TV station late Tuesday, shortly after her release. "They treated me well. They just interrogated me and thank God they found me not guilty," she added, without providing further details.

Gunmen, who said they were members of the security forces, searched her home last Monday before abducting her. They also took gold, money, phones, laptops and her car.

The journalist's sister, Nibras told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces had sealed off the area around the journalist's home and were questioning her. The sister declined to elaborate on who was behind the kidnapping.

Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by militant groups since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Dozens of journalists have been killed while covering military operations.

Al-Qaisi, a veteran journalist who is also an employee of the Culture Ministry, is a prominent critic of Iraq's endemic corruption and government mismanagement.

In one of her articles, published in a local media outlet nearly a week before her kidnapping, she criticised an Interior Ministry officer who badly beat a school principal in front of students and teachers for refusing to punish a pupil who quarrelled with the official's daughter.