| Soldier kidnapping retaliation for 14yr olds rape { May 15 2007 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/385397,CST-NWS-iraq15.articlehttp://www.suntimes.com/news/world/385397,CST-NWS-iraq15.article
'Your soldiers are in our hands' IRAQ | Al-Qaida says it has ambushed GIs, warns U.S. to stop hunt
May 15, 2007 BY KIM GAMEL BAGHDAD -- An al-Qaida front group warned the United States on Monday to halt its expanding search for three missing American soldiers ''if you want their safety.'' The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time it believes the servicemen are in terrorist hands.
The statements came as thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops swept through farmhouses, fields and palm groves south of Baghdad in hopes of finding the soldiers -- last seen before a pre-dawn attack Saturday in an area considered a stronghold of Sunni extremists.
Four Americans and one Iraqi soldier were killed in the ambush.
In a Web posting, the Islamic State of Iraq, an insurgent alliance that includes al-Qaida, demanded that the Americans stop the search because it will ''lead to nothing but exhaustion.''
''Your soldiers are in our hands. If you want their safety, do not search for them,'' the statement said.
It also suggested that the weekend ambush was in revenge for the rape-murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi by American soldiers in the area last year.
Five soldiers have been charged in the case, and three have pleaded guilty.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the U.S. was using ''every asset and resource available'' to find the missing soldiers.
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