ROME, March 4: Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena has been released in Iraq after being held hostage for a Month, the Italian government said on Friday.

"I can confirm it 100 per cent," said Margherita Boniver, an under secretary at the Italian foreign ministry.

"She should board a plane in the coming hours and should be back in Rome later tonight," Ms Boniver told Sky Italia television. Ms Sgrena, who works for the Rome-based Communist daily Il Manifesto, was seized in the Iraqi capital on Feb 4 as she conducted interviews on the street near Baghdad University.

Her colleagues at Il Manifesto broke into applause as word of the release spread and some wept tears of joy. She was last seen in a video released on Feb 16, pleading for her life and urging US-led forces to quit Iraq.

Occasionally sobbing, Ms Sgrena begged her family to put pressure on the Italian government to secure her release and warned foreigners to steer clear of the country. -Reuters