Militants say U.S. prisoners killed

BAGHDAD — Al-Qaida-linked insurgents claimed in a video that surfaced Monday to have killed three U.S. soldiers who disappeared after an assault on their patrol early last month, but they offered no proof.

The U.S. military recovered the body of one of the soldiers May 23, but the other two remain missing.

The nearly 11-minute clip includes a close-up of two military-identification cards said to belong to the still-missing soldiers. But it does not show the pair.

"We are further analyzing the video; however, it doesn't appear to contain any definitive evidence indicating the status of our missing soldiers," military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said in a statement. "We continue to search and hope that our two missing soldiers will be found alive and in good health."

The soldiers have been the subject of a massive search since the May 12 ambush south of Baghdad.

Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter died in the initial assault. The body of Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was pulled from the Euphrates River less than two weeks later. Still listed as missing are Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.

The video was produced by the publishing unit of the Islamic State of Iraq, an insurgent umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq rebels who profess loyalty to Osama bin Laden.

An unidentified voice on the tape states that the soldiers were captured alive. The voice accuses the U.S. military of ignoring instructions contained on an earlier Internet posting not to search for the missing men.

"The Islamic state of Iraq decided to put an end to this issue," the voice continues. "They were living prisoners, and now they are dead bodies."

The final scenes show the identification cards and other personal effects said to have been seized during the ambush, including a pistol, credit cards, $50 bills and Iraqi currency.

The U.S. military said it had heard rumors that a video was about to be released and had warned the soldiers' families over the weekend.

The video surfaced on a day when at least 37 Iraqis were killed or found slain in Baghdad, where a security crackdown is in its fourth month.

U.S. and Iraqi forces control fewer than one-third of the city's neighborhoods, despite the addition of thousands of troops since the plan began in mid-February, the U.S. military acknowledged Monday, confirming a report in The New York Times.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman, said commanders had warned from the start that it would take months for the plan to yield results.

The last of five promised combat brigades will not be fully in place until mid-June, he said. About 3,000 troops initially deployed in Baghdad had to be diverted to neighboring Diyala province to deal with violence there.

Garver also expressed concern about some of the Iraqi units taking part in the crackdown, including questions about their loyalty.

Iraqi officials concede that Shiite Muslim militiamen have infiltrated their security forces, which the fighters use as cover for kidnappings, killings and other attacks.

Dozens of gunmen in police uniforms kidnapped five British contractors from a Finance Ministry building last week.

Underscoring the remaining challenges, police in Baghdad on Monday recovered the bodies of at least 28 men shot execution-style, a hallmark of sectarian killings.