BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Eighteen Iraqi National Guards taken for hostages have been freed by an Islamist group, Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported late Monday.

   The kidnappers, known as the Mohammed bin Abdullah Brigades, released the 18 soldiers they had threatened to kill unless a Shiite cleric is immediately released, said the pan-Arab channel.

   It added the group did so at the request of Moqtada al-Sadr, a young Shiite cleric who had been leading an uprising against the US-led coalition forces throughout the central southern Iraq this year. Enditem