Missing Soldiers Found Dead In Iraq

The Mujaheddin al-Shura Council, a collection of several insurgent groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq, claimed in an Internet statement to have "slaughtered" the two soldiers, suggesting they were beheaded. The group, which had vowed revenge on U.S. forces following the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this month, claimed on Monday to have abducted the two privates.

Asked Tuesday if the Internet statements were credible, Caldwell responded: "Absolutely not," and added that based on "preliminary analysis" there was "no reason to believe" the group's claims.

In telephone interviews, two Yusufiya residents, Muyasar Ghalib al-Qaraghuli, 19, and a tribal leader who gave his name only as Abu Salam, described a gruesome scene in which insurgents beheaded and dismembered the soldiers after dragging their bodies behind pickup trucks.

"It's something that we are against," Qaraghuli said. "But what could we do? It happened."

Those accounts could not be independently confirmed, though U.S. and Iraqi officials acknowledged privately that the killings had been particularly brutal.

According to a report on the Web site of the Houston Chronicle, Menchaca's uncle, Mario Vasquez, said military officials told him early Tuesday morning that the two soldiers had been beheaded.

The two soldiers were the first to be classified as "duty status and whereabouts unknown," since Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin, who disappeared after an attack on his convoy in April 2004. He subsequently appeared in a video made by insurgents, who later released another video purporting to show his execution. The military called the footage inconclusive and continues to classify him as missing. Eleven American civilians, most of them contractors, are also considered to be missing in the country, Caldwell said.

Also Tuesday, U.S. military officials said they had killed a senior member of al-Qaeda in Iraq during an airstrike on Friday in the same area where the two Army privates vanished.

Mansur Sulayman Mansur Khalif al-Mashadani, an Iraqi known as Sheik Mansur, was a "key leader" of al-Qaeda in Iraq with "excellent religious, military and leadership credentials within that organization," said Caldwell. Mashadani, in his mid-thirties, had studied religion in Jordan before rising to be the religious emir for all of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Caldwell said.

"We do think his death will significantly continue to impact on the ability of this organization to regenerate and reorganize itself," Caldwell said.

After tracking Mashadani, U.S. forces moved to capture him, prompting Mashadani and two other people to flee in a vehicle, which was destroyed by a U.S. airstrike, said Caldwell.

Mashadani had been captured by U.S. forces in July 2004 and released that fall, Caldwell said, because he was not considered "a threat to Iraqi citizens or coalition forces." Mashadani joined al-Qaeda in Iraq after his release, he said.