BAGHDAD, Iraq
Video shows U.S. soldier abducted last year
A man identified as U.S. soldier Ahmed K. Altaie appeared in a video Wednesday posted on a Web site used by militants.
ÊThe uncle of an Iraqi-American U.S. soldier abducted last October in Baghdad identified his missing nephew Wednesday in a video posted on a militant Shiite Web site.
U.S. Army Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie was kidnapped October 23 while serving as a translator for the U.S. military and has since been listed as "duty status whereabouts unknown."
The previously unknown group identified themselves as the "Ahel al-Beit Brigades" in a message posted on a Web site for supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Medhi militia.
The Web posting said, "we have captured American solider Ahmed Qusay of the 4th Brigade," referring to the soldier's U.S. military unit. "We warn the American people to avoid sending their soldiers to Iraq in order that they not have the same fate of other soldiers who are being killed, wounded and captured."
The soldier's uncle, Entifadh Qanbar, told CNN he has been in touch with the abductors and he said the video is "proof of life," a step in the negotiation process that has been stalled for a couple of weeks.
"It's 100 percent him," said Qanbar, who spoke to CNN from Washington, D.C. "It looks like he lost some weight, but he's in great shape. I never lost hope."
The U.S.-led coalition has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Altaie's recovery.
Mother: Altaie wants to help both sides
In November, Altaie's mother, Nawal Altaie of Ann Arbor, Michigan, said her son came to the United States as a teenager and wants to "help both sides and bring peace."
The reservist had worked in aircraft maintenance before enlisting in the Army as a translator, according to his parents.
Military officials said last year that Sgt. Altaie joined the reserves two years earlier and was sent to Iraq in November of 2005.
The video portion of the posting is 10 seconds long and shows Altaie from the shoulders up, wearing a white shirt and speaking against a white wall. There is no audio.
It's unknown when the video was made but it is the first public claim of responsibility for the kidnapping of Sgt. Altaie, whose rank was Army specialist at the time of the abduction.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Wednesday the U.S. military is analyzing the video "to ascertain its authenticity."
"We maintain a team dedicated that has a sole mission of working personnel recovery, we continue to follow each lead," said Caldwell. "We're very concerned about Spc. Altaie, or now Sgt. Altaie -- we continue tracking and monitoring that situation."
The pro-Sadr Web site typically features new statements by the cleric and pictures or videos of operations carried out by the Medhi militia against U.S. and British military forces.
An aide to al-Sadr denied that the group had any link to Altaie's abduction.
Uncle says he's received e-mails from group
Qanbar said the group that posted the video has been e-mailing him for some time and told the family they wanted to negotiate. When the family demanded the group show Altaie was still alive, they refused and halted communication. The last e-mail Qanbar said he received was January 27.
"We were looking for a proof of life. A proof of life was the condition for us to continue the dialogue with them. Now we have it," he said.
Qanbar declined to elaborate what his next step would be, but he urged the group to release Altaie, highlighting that he is a Muslim.
"Keeping him or harming him is not going to do good for anyone in this situation," he told CNN.
The U.S. military believes Altaie left the Green Zone area to visit family members when he was abducted.
"He was reportedly at a relative's house when three cars pulled up to the residence," Caldwell said last October. "The men who were described to have dark colored rags over their nose and mouths, handcuffed the soldier and forced him into one of their vehicles."
Caldwell said in October that a "relative who claimed to have been at the residence when the abduction occurred was reportedly contacted by the alleged kidnappers using the soldier's personal cell phone."
U.S. troops immediately began a search. They launched raids, including operations at a TV station and a mosque, closed down roads and checked vehicles.
Altaie is married to an Iraqi woman who lived in Baghdad as recently as last November. His parents said the couple met in Baghdad before he began his military service, and they had planned to move together to America.
Earlier reports had raised the question of whether the soldier's marriage to an Iraqi violated military regulations, which forbid troops from marrying citizens of a country where U.S. forces are engaged in combat.
But last year Caldwell said Altaie had not violated any rules, because the couple had married before he deployed to Iraq.
CNN's Arwa Damon, Yousif Bassel, Jomana Karadsheh and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Source: CNN Newsource
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Update: Uncle Of Abducted U.S. Soldier Confirms His Nephew's Identity In Shiite Video
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer
Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - The uncle of an Iraqi-American soldier who was kidnapped nearly five months ago has said he is "100 percent" confident that the man shown in the video posted on a militant Shiite Web site is his nephew. In a message accompanying the undated video released Wednesday, a previously unknown group called "Ahel al-Beit Brigades" claimed the responsibility for the abduction of U.S. Army Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie and warned the U.S. to avoid sending more troops to Iraq.
Altaie was kidnapped October 23 while serving as a translator for the U.S. military in Iraq. U.S. military officials believe Alataie was abducted while he was visiting some relatives. Since then he has been listed as "duty status whereabouts unknown."
Altaie's uncle, Entifadh Qanbar, told CNN that although he had been in contact with abductors through emails, it was not clear whether the soldier was alive. Qanbar also revealed that the abductors had demanded a ransom of $250,000 through an intermediary, but that he in turn demanded proof of his nephew was alive before entering any negotiations, according to AP reports.
Qanbar said the recent video was the "proof" that Altaie is alive.
"It looks like he lost some weight, but he's in great shape. I never lost hope," Qanbar told CNN in a telephone interview.
However, U.S. officials said they would analyze the video for its authenticity before taking any further step.
"We maintain a team dedicated that has a sole mission of working personnel recovery, we continue to follow each lead," CNN quoted Army spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell as saying. "We're very concerned about Spc. Altaie, or now Sgt. Altaie - we continue tracking and monitoring that situation."
The U.S.-led coalition has also offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Altaie's recovery.
© All Headline News Corp
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Abducted US soldier seen in new footage
Associated Press
Guardian Unlimited
A Shia militant group has released a video of an Iraqi-American soldier who was kidnapped nearly four months ago while visiting his wife in downtown Baghdad, a US television network reported today.
The US government has offered a $50,000 (£25,500) reward for information leading to the return of the Iraqi-born army translator, Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, a 41-year-old reserve soldier from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The video was broadcast by CNN and it was unclear when it was made. Mr al-Taayie's uncle, Entifadh Qanbar, identified him from the video, the network said.
The reward was offered after a massive search operation turned up no solid leads about the fate of Mr al-Taayie, who was visiting his Iraqi wife when he was handcuffed and taken away by gunmen on October 23 last year.
Mr Qanbar said after the abduction that he had received through an intermediary a demand of $250,000 from the kidnappers. He had in turn demanded that he be shown proof that his nephew was alive and well before entering negotiations.
The US military had said at the time that there was "an ongoing dialogue" to win Mr al-Taayie's release, but didn't say with whom or at what level.
Mr al-Taayie, whose name is also spelt Ahmed Kousay Altaie, was born in Iraq and moved to the United States as a teenager. He joined the army reserve in December 2004 and was deployed to Iraq in November 2005.
Mr Qanbar had said at the time that he believed his nephew's abductors belonged to a "well organised" rogue cell from the Shia Mahdi army militia of the cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
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Video upsets mother of kidnap victim
Local family worries about U.S. soldier abducted in Iraq
BY MARIANNE RZEPKA
News Staff Reporter and wire service reports
Nawal al-Taie saw her son's face on CNN this morning for the first time since he was kidnapped in downtown Baghdad nearly four months ago.
Watching television in her Ann Arbor home after receiving a phone call alerting her of the CNN video, al-Taie was not put at ease at the sight of her 41-year-old son, Army Spc. Ahmed Kousay al-Taie.
She said she didn't know what it meant that the kidnappers released the video. "I'm afraid more than ever,'' she said.
It is unclear when the video was made, but Nawal Altaie said she thinks it was not long ago. "He looked tired,'' she said. "He's losing weight.''
Al-Taie's uncle identified him from the video, CNN said. The video did not immediately turn up in an Associated Press search of militant Web sites.
Nawal al-Taie said her son is reading a statement on the video, saying he is a good man from a good family. "Of course, he is,'' she said. "He is a very good man, believe me. A very kind man.''
The U.S. government has offered a $50,000 reward leading to the recovery of the Iraqi-born American Army translator, who was abducted by gunmen on Oct. 23. A huge search operation turned up no solid leads on the fate of al-Taie, who was visiting his Iraqi wife when he was handcuffed and taken away by gunmen during a visit to the woman's family.
Al-Taie's uncle, Entifadh Qanbar, said at the time that he believed his nephew's abductors belong to a "well-organized'' rogue cell from the Shiite Mahdi Army militia of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
He said he had received through an intermediary a demand of $250,000 from the kidnappers. He had in turn demanded proof that his nephew was alive and well before entering negotiations.
The U.S. military said at the time that there was "an ongoing dialogue'' to win al-Taie's release but didn't say with whom or at what level.
Al-Taie was born in Iraq and moved to the United States as a teenager. He joined the Army Reserve in December 2004 and was deployed to Iraq in November 2005.
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