Russian hostages released in Iraq

The Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera showed footage of the two hostages

Two Russian hostages captured in Iraq earlier this month have been released in Baghdad.

The pair, who were employed by a Russian energy company, were freed on the southern outskirts of the capital.

Andrei Meshcheryakov, 33, and Alexander Gordiyenko, 27, were said to be in good health after their ordeal.

Gunmen kidnapped the pair - employees of Interenergoservis - on 10 May in an ambush near Baghdad, in which one of their colleagues was killed.

They were snatched as they were returning from work at a power station near Baghdad.

A videotape broadcast on Sunday by the Arabic satellite TV channel al-Jazeera had shown the two hostages apparently in good health.

They were released after work by the Russian embassy in Baghdad and Iraqi political and religious figures, the Russian foreign ministry said, in a statement reported by AP news agency.

"Once they realised that they were Russian citizens, that had a significant influence on the resolution of further issues," a Russian consul told Reuters news agency.

"They didn't do anything to them," he said.

Interenergoservis' director general said that no ransom had been paid, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Mr Gordiyenko and Mr Meshcheryakov were "in a state of slight shock" but "their overall condition raises no concern", Alexander Abramov said.

Both were "strongly recommended to leave Iraq together with their 110 colleagues who have decided to return home ahead of time," he added.

Russian targets

The BBC's Russian affairs analyst, Stephen Dalziel, says their release came on the same day that Interenergoservis was taking all of its Russian staff out of Iraq.

The Russian foreign ministry repeated its call to all Russians to leave the country.

Russia is not part of the US-led coalition, but has many workers in Iraq to restore the energy sector.

Last month, Moscow evacuated some 365 citizens of ex-Soviet countries after a spate of kidnappings of foreign nationals.

However, about 300 workers chose to stay behind - the great majority of them were Interenergoservis workers.

Among them were eight Russian and Ukrainian workers who had been abducted and then freed.