BAGHDAD, Sept 27: An Iranian diplomat taken hostage in Iraq last month was released by his captors on Monday but the fate of at least 11 other foreigners, including a Briton threatened with beheading, remained unclear.

Fereidoun Jahani was seized as he travelled by car south of Baghdad by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq. It was not clear if he was being held by the same group when he was freed. Iran's state television said the kidnappers were from an unknown faction.

After his release, Fereidoun Jahani was taken to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and was said to be in good health but tired. The Islamic Army in Iraq is believed to be holding two French journalists kidnapped on Aug 20 and has claimed the killing of Italian hostage Enzo Baldoni on Aug 26.

If it is the Islamic Army that freed Jahani it will raise hopes for French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, who looked set to be released earlier this month, although there has since been no communication.

As well as the two Frenchmen, at least nine other foreigners remain hostage in Iraq - two Italian women aid workers seized on Sept 7, British engineer Kenneth Bigley, taken from his home in Baghdad 11 days ago, and six Egyptian telecom workers.

There has been no word on the Italians, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, for several days, although Jordan's King Abdullah said on Sunday he believed they were still alive.

The family of Bigley, 62, has mounted a large scale campaign to have him freed, calling upon British Prime Minister Tony Blair to do more to secure his release. Bigley was seized along with two Americans by the Tawhid and Jihad organisation, a group headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. -Reuters