Iraqi Army forces freed the kidnapped British journalist in the city of Basra, a military spokesman said on Monday.

British journalist Richard Butler (L) smiles as he is escorted by British (C) and Iraqi (R) military officers in an Iraqi army camp in Basra, 550 km (342 miles) south of Baghdad, April 14, 2008.

"I confirm that the British journalist Richard Butler has been freed today in the Jubailah area in Basra," Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Muhammad al-Askari told Xinhua by telephone.

"He is in good health and is sitting here with me as I am talking to you," Askari said.

He said that Butler had been freed during a search operation conducted by the Iraqi Army 14th Division earlier on Monday in the Jubailah area in Iraq's second largest city of Basra.

During the operation, the troops came under heavy fire as they approached a house in the area, prompting the troops to fire back, detaining a gunman after wounding him, but three others fled the house where the kidnapped journalist was found, Askari said.

Butler, a British journalist working for American CBS News, was abducted by masked gunmen on Feb. 10 along with his Iraqi interpreter in the Qasr al-Sultan Hotel in Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad.

On Feb. 13, Iraqi police said that the abducted Iraqi interpreter was released unharmed.

Late in March, Iraqi security forces launched a massive offensive, dubbed "Operation Cavalry Assault", which aimed at cracking down insurgents in Basra.

After days of fierce clashes between Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces, the troops started search operations in several neighborhoods of the city, including the Jubailah area.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2008)