A MAN WHO SAYS he was a US soldier deployed to Iraq in 2003 has been released to the UN in Baghdad after being kidnapped and held hostage by Shiite militants for nine months.

Although he did not identify himself, military and contractor ID cards shown during a press conference with the man yesterday identified him as having the first names Randy Michael Hultz.

He said he had been taken captive by al-Maoud, a Shiite militia which had targeted US troops in Iraq for years.

A UN spokesperson last night confirmed that the man had been handed over to them in Baghdad. A US state department official said that a US citizen who had apparently been released from detention was with the US embassy in Baghdad. The embassy has been working to confirm his identity.

The BBC notes that the man’s release appears to have taken the US by surprise, while CNN reports that US officials say that no civilians have been reported missing recently and all missing soldiers have been accounted for.

In the press conference after his release, he wore a US military uniform and said he spent 15 months in Iraq in a military capacity before staying on in Iraq in a civilian capacity:

The man also said his captors had moved him between different locations in Baghdad before deciding to release him on humanitarian grounds, and thanked them for his release, but provided little other information about his capture or captors.

(Video via AssociatedPress)

He was flanked at the press conference by lawmaker Maha al-Douri, who said she was from al-Maoud (aka The Promised Day Brigade) and that he was being released as a gift to his family and to “explain the picture of real Islam”. The other man in the video is Qusay al-Suahil, the Iraqi parliament’s deputy speaker.

“This is a clear message from the sons of Iraq to the US administration about the goodwill to liberate Iraq and its complete sovereignty,” she said

- Additional reporting by the AP