A US journalist sentenced to two years imprisonment for torturing Afghans in a private Kabul jail has been released two months before the end of his sentence.

Edward Caraballo, a television cameraman from New York, was flown out of Afghanistan under heavy US security on Sunday.

Afghan authorities discovered the jail, which contained eight Afghans who complained of being tortured, in July 2004.

The prison was run by former US soldier Jonathan "Jack" Idema and another US citizen, Brent Bennett – who were also imprisoned on charges of torture and running a private jail.

The three men say the US government sanctioned the jail, which Idema said was part of a freelance hunt for "terror suspects".

The US military acknowledges accepting a prisoner from Idema, but insists it realised shortly afterwards that Idema was an impostor.

The Afghan authorities were enraged by the discovery, which took place around the same time as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal occurred in Iraq.

PHOTO CAPTION

From (L-R) U.S. suspects Jonathan Keith Idema, Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo listen as an Afghan court delivers its verdict in Kabul September 15, 2004. (REUTERS)