BAGHDAD, Sept 24: US soldiers detained an Associated Press photographer and driver, handcuffing them and forcing them to stand in the sun for three hours, the news agency said on Wednesday.

The agency said troops from the Second Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, First Armored Division, held photographer Karim Kadim and driver Mohammed Abbas, both Iraqis, on Tuesday near Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad.

A US major later released the men, apologizing for what he said was a misunderstanding.

The incident on Tuesday was the latest involving US troops and foreign reporters in Iraq. US soldiers shot up Mr Kadim’s car last Thursday in Khaldiya, about 100kms west of Baghdad, during a firefight after a US convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, the AP said.

A US soldier shot and killed Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana on Aug 17 as he filmed near Abu Ghraib. On April 8, a US tank shell killed Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk as he was filming from a Baghdad hotel, and a cameraman from Spain’s Tele 5 also was killed.

Tuesday’s incident occurred when soldiers denied Kadim and Abbas permission to photograph them searching for explosives. When they tried to leave, they were ordered to return and stand facing an armoured personnel carrier, the New York-based news agency said.

They were searched, their cameras were taken and their hands were tied behind their backs. They were made to stand for three hours in 44 Celsius heat.

Mr Abbas said the soldiers accused them of taking part in insurgency against US troops, who face daily attacks from Iraqi guerrillas.

The two were taken to a US base, where a major apologized and said the incident had been a misunderstanding, the AP said.—Reuters