Five detainees 'to be freed soon'

Tehran: Iran's ambassador to Iraq said five Iranians detained by US forces in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil will be freed soon within a week, the official Irna news agency reported yesterday.

"The Iraqi government has assured that five Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Arbil will be released this [Iranian] week [ending Friday]," IRNA quoted Hassan Kazemi Qomi as saying.

"The host country is responsible for protecting diplomatic missions, so the Iraqi government has been trying to free the five diplomats since the first hours of the incident," he said. The US military arrested the five at an office in Arbil.