An Iraqi court handed down a 15-year jail term on Saturday to a man it convicted of taking part in the abduction of a British journalist in 2008, a judiciary spokesman said.

Spokesman Abdel Sattar al-Beriqdar did not identify the convict by name but said the court had sentenced him for the armed kidnapping of Richard Butler, who was seized with his translator and held hostage for two months.

"The Iraqi central criminal court issued a 15-year prison sentence against the defendant for kidnapping the British journalist Richard Butler," Beriqdar said in a statement.