US forces in Iraq said today they were holding eight women prisoners, after the abductors of an American journalist threatened to kill her if the authorities did not free all Iraqi women within 72 hours.
"We have eight females. They are being held for the same reasons as the others, namely that they are a threat to security," said Lieutenant Aaron Henninger, a spokesman for the US military detentions operation. Some 14,000 men are held at Abu Ghraib and other jails on suspicion of insurgent activity.
Arabic television station al-Jazeera aired a brief video last night showing Jill Carroll, 28, a freelance journalist working for the Christian Science Monitor.
It was the first glimpse of Ms Carroll since gunmen kidnapped her in a Baghdad street on January 7 and killed her translator. The video showed Ms Carroll speaking to the camera, although her voice was not broadcast.
A still photograph of Ms Carroll from the videotape appeared on al-Jazeera's Web site carrying a logo reading the "Revenge Brigades", a similar name to a group that kidnapped an Iraqi-Swedish Christian politician in January 2005. He was released unharmed after being threatened with beheading.
An Iraqi Justice Ministry official said there were a number of women among about 7,000 people being held in civilian Iraqi jails under its control, although he did not have an exact figure. All had been convicted of common crimes.