Iraq state TV accuses US of releasing "terrorist"

BAGHDAD, Nov 1 (Reuters) Iraq's state-funded television station said today the US military had released a ''terrorist'' after he was captured by the Iraqi army, at a time when tension between Baghdad and Washington is high.

Iraqiya television named the man as Atta Hadi al-Zaidi and said he was responsible for sectarian violence and forcing people to move out of the violence-prone Diyala province.

A government source confirmed the release of Zaidi, a former Iraqi army Brigadier under Saddam Hussein.

The announcement by Iraqiya came a week after Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki criticised the United States for restricting the role of Iraqi forces in the fight against the Sunni insurgency.

Many Shi'ite politicians, suspicious of US intentions in Iraq's sectarian conflict, have quietly accused the US military in the past of releasing Sunni militants.

A spokeswoman for the US military said she had no immediate information on the release.

REUTERS PDM HS2041