Washington, April 23 (IANS/EFE) An American woman journalist, detained by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi while reporting from Libya, spoke with her parents on phone and confirmed that she is in a women's prison in Tripoli.

USA TODAY said Clare Gillis was able to talk on the phone with her parents after more than 15 days in captivity.

Gillis, 34, was detained April 5 near the eastern Libyan town of Brega together with another US journalist, James Foley, and Spanish photographer Manuel Varela de Seijas Brabo.

Her father, Robert Gillis, saw the phone call as a "hopeful good sign", and seemed hopeful that his daughter will soon be home again.

"Now we've made this contact, we really want to get things moving, so she and the other journalists could be released," he said.

USA TODAY editor John Hillkirk said: "We are very relieved to hear Clare was able to reach her parents, and now we're looking forward to her speedy release."

Robert Gillis said his daughter described the uniform she had to wear in prison as "pink pajamas" and said that her fellow prisoners speak only Arabic.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also demanded the release of the journalists.