Al-Qaeda 'captures' marines

2005-10-02 19:00

Baghdad - Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed to have captured two US marines participating in an offensive in western Iraq, threatening in a web statement issued on Sunday to kill them within 24 hours.

A US military spokesperson said he believed the claim was false.

A spokesperson for US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, said in a statement: "I have not heard anything about any of our folks being taken.

"I would suspect that these are unfounded rumours, as that is what has happened in the past."

The al-Qaeda statement said the two marines were captured during Operation Iron Fist, an offensive that entered its second day on Sunday in towns near the Syrian border.

The statement, posted on a Islamic militant web forum and signed by al-Qaeda spokesperson, Abuy Maysara al-Iraqi, did not include any pictures or other images.

Its authenticity could not be verified.

It said al-Qaeda fighters captured the two "after surrounding their patrol," which it said was part of "their futile assault against the homes of Sunnis, the so-called Iron Fist".

Al-Qaeda set a 24-hour deadline for Sunni women to be released from Iraqi and US prisons - or else the two would be killed.

"The mujahedeen are eager to slaughter them," the statement said.

About 1 000 marines, soldiers and sailors launched Operation Iron Fist on Saturday, sweeping into the village of Sadah, 300km northwest of Baghdad, to hunt for al-Qaeda militants.

- AP