BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces have released a senior aide to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on the orders of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister’s office said on Wednesday.

Ahmed Shibani, who had been held for more than a year, is a senior aide to Sadr, a radical anti-American cleric who is also the leader of the Mehdi Army militia which Washington recently called the greatest threat to security in Iraq. Sadr’s political movement is an important part of the coalition government and holds several ministries.

“(Shibani) has been released this afternoon on the orders of Prime Minister Maliki,” an official in the prime minister’s office told Reuters.

Nassar al-Rubaei, head of the Sadrist bloc in parliament, said U.S. forces had been detaining Shibani without charge.

“We know that today he will be released by the occupation forces and delivered to the prime minister today to be freed,” he said.

Shibani was arrested in Najaf and was believed to be held at a U.S. base at the airport in Baghdad.

There was no immediate confirmation of Shibani’s release from the U.S. military.

Source: Reuters