Baghdad  - Two Iraqi doctors and an assistant who were abducted two weeks ago have been released after their families paid a ransom to the kidnappers, security sources said on Tuesday.

Sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the family of Sabar al-Qeisy, one of the abducted doctors, paid 230,000 US dollars in ransom.

The doctors and the assistant were released on Monday and were in stable health. But they had been tortured by the kidnappers, sources said.

The release of the kidnapped doctors occurred near Haditha in Anbar province.

Sources added that the kidnappers were suspected members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi police source said that the US forces have managed to arrest one of the kidnappers near Beiji area, some 23 kilometres north of Baghdad. (dpa)