Two Indonesian journalists held captive in Iraq for nearly a week were released on Monday, but an Iraqi female journalist was reported to have been seized, perpetuating Iraq's long-running hostage crisis. Indonesia said its two nationals held in Iraq - female reporter Meutya Hafid, 26, and 38-year-old cameraman Budiyanto - had been freed and were heading out of the country.

Sources in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, a guerrilla stronghold west of Baghdad where the two Indonesians were kidnapped last Tuesday, said the pair were being driven to Jordan.

Around 130 foreigners and hundreds more Iraqis have been taken hostage in Iraq over the past year. While most have been released, many have also been killed, some by beheading.

The abductions are often the work of criminals seeking to profit from ransom payments, although Islamic militants have also been behind the kidnapping of many of the foreigners in an effort to put pressure on foreign troops to leave Iraq. Continuing the cycle of abductions, an Iraqi television presenter was seized in the northern city of Mosul, the director of the local province's radio and TV station told Reuters.

Raiida al-Wazan, 36, was taken on Sunday while driving to work with her 10-year-old daughter, station director Razi Faisal said. It was not clear if the daughter was also missing. Faisal said he had received no demands from her abductors.

Copyright Reuters, 2005