The head of Baghdad Provincial Council was freed Saturday by the gunmen who abducted him and his guards earlier in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
"Riyadh al-Adhadh and his guards have been released by their kidnappers in the afternoon," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Al-Adhadh has arrived at his house in Adhamiyah district in northern Baghdad and has informed the security forces about his safety, the source said without giving further details.
Earlier in the day, a police source told Xinhua that al-Adhadh and four of his bodyguards were kidnapped from his house on Friday night by unidentified armed men in security uniforms.
The Iraqi security forces have launched a probe into the incident as no security forces were officially ordered to seize al- Adhadh, according to the source.
Al-Adhadh, from Mutahidoun political bloc led by former Sunni speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, was elected as the chairman of Baghdad Provincial Council in June 2013.
More than two years ago, Adhadh was detained under charges of terrorism but was set free months later after he was cleared by a court.