Concern over abducted soldiers
2006-06-19 22:25
Washington - US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said on Monday that the US government is very worried about two missing soldiers, whose kidnapping in Iraq has been claimed by an al-Qaeda-led group.
"This is obviously a matter of great concern to all of us," Rice said.
"And the American military has made very clear that they are going to do everything possible - I think they've said air, land and sea - to try and find them.
"And obviously their safe return is something that everyone will work for, and their safe return is something that everyone will pray for," Rice told reporters after meeting her Spanish counterpart, Miguel Angel Moratinos.
The soldiers went missing after they came under attack at a traffic control point near the predominantly Sunni Arab town of Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, on Friday.
Another soldier died in the attack.
The US military named the missing soldiers as Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Thomas L Tucker, 25.
A coalition of armed Sunni Arab factions led by al-Qaeda's Iraq branch claimed responsibility for the abduction of the two soldiers in a statement posted on the internet on Monday.
- AFP