U.S. journalist Micah Garen, who was kidnapped in Iraq more than a week ago, was released Sunday in the southern city of Nasiriyah. Garen spoke to Al-Jazeera television, confirming his release. Garen was interviewed by telephone by the station moments after an aide to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said the American had been released. Garen thanked al-Sadr’s representatives in Nasiriyah and everyone else who worked to secure his release. Garen and his Iraqi translator, Amir Doushi, were walking through a market in Nasiriyah on Aug. 13 when two armed men in civilian clothes seized them, police said. Garen said Sunday he had been taking pictures with a small camera when a misunderstanding happened with people who did not approve, he said without elaborating.