BAGHDAD, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Iraq's state-funded television station said on Wednesday the U.S. military had released a "terrorist" after he was captured by the Iraqi army, at a time when tension between Baghdad and Washington is high.
Iraqiya television named the man as Atta Hadi al-Zaidi and said he was responsible for sectarian violence and forcing people to move out of the violence-prone Diyala province.
A government source confirmed the release of Zaidi, a former Iraqi army Brigadier under Saddam Hussein.
The announcement by Iraqiya came a week after Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki criticised the United States for restricting the role of Iraqi forces in the fight against the Sunni insurgency.
Many Shi'ite politicians, suspicious of U.S. intentions in Iraq's sectarian conflict, have quietly accused the U.S. military in the past of releasing Sunni militants.
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