A militant group holding a top Iranian diplomat hostage in Baghdad said it would release him if Iran frees Iraqi prisoners it is holding, Arabic Al-Jazeera TV reported. The militants calling themselves the "Islamic Army in Iraq" pledged to punish the diplomat unless their demands were met in 48 hours. The form of punishment was not specified. The statement was dated two days ago, though it was unclear if the group would consider the deadline to have passed already. In the statement the group demanded Iran free 500 Iraqi prisoners it says remain in Iranian custody from the Iran-Iraq war that ended in 1988 and from the first Gulf War that ended in 1991.

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