Baghdad, 2007 Sep 23, IRIB

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani demanded the immediate release on Saturday of an Iranian businessman abducted by the American military.

Talabani reaffirmed that the Iranian kidnapped from a hotel in northern Iraq last Thursday was a civilian official who had been visiting with the blessing of both the Kurdish regional government and the authorities in Baghdad.

In a statement addressed to the top American officials in Iraq he said: "I am informing you of our displeasure over the arrest of the Iranian civilian official without consulting the government of Kurdistan.

"That is a humiliation for the regional administration," said Talabani.

"You ignored our authority. I ask for his immediate release in order to maintain healthy relations between Iran and Kurdistan and for the prosperity of Kurdistan."

The American military abducted Mahmudi Farhadi from a hotel in Iraq's northern Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah on Thursday.

Talabani insisted the detainee was an official on a commercial mission with the knowledge of the federal government in Baghdad and the government of Kurdistan.

"This will handicap trade in the Kurdish region in this blessed month," he added in reference to the holy month of Ramadhan.