HIROSHIMA, Aug. 5 Kyodo, A Japanese photographer said Thursday he had been held by a militant group in Fallujah, Iraq, for two hours in mid-July but was released unharmed.

Speaking of his experience at a meeting of an anti-nuclear group in Hiroshima, Takashi Morizumi said, ''What the United States is really doing is suppressing freedom and democracy. There is strong anti-U.S. sentiment among the Iraqis and they feel it was just Saddam (Hussein) being replaced by the United States.''

Morizumi said he was taking photos in Fallujah on July 18 when five or six Iraqis armed with guns in two vehicles stopped him. He and his Iraqi guide were blindfolded and taken to a nearby residence.

At the house, they were given juice and other drinks. After about two hours, a member of the group in his 30s apologized and said residents felt bitter toward foreigners as 14 people had been killed in U.S. bombings that morning.

The group then released Morizumi and his guide unharmed and without any demands.

Morizumi said he had obtained consent from local leaders prior to his day visit to Fallujah. When they were held by the group, the guide assured him they would not be harmed, but Morizumi recalled, ''I had thought that perhaps this might be the end.''

Among the photos he took that day were one of a youth who had lost an eye and a pregnant woman who lost her baby when hit by gunshots.

2004-08-05 21:47:13JST