Captured US soldiers freed

IRAQI troops released seven captured US soldiers - some wounded but in good condition - to US Marines yesterday, a surprise discovery near where troops were entering Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit.

Clad in an assortment of pyjamas and shorts, the soldiers clambered out of helicopters to a delighted welcome at an air base in southern Iraq, hours after their release.

The seven were taken by helicopter to a base near Kut and flown to a military airport south of Kuwait City. They "are in good shape," although two have gunshot wounds, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.

Ronald Young Snr identified one of the Americans in shaky video shown by CNN as his son, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D Young Jnr, who was listed as a POW after his Apache

helicopter was forced down on March 23. Also among the seven was Chief Warrant Officer David S Williams, 30, of Orlando, who was in the Apache with Young.

Relatives identified the others as four members of the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company that was ambushed outside of the southern city of Nassiriya on March 23: Shoshana Johnson, 30, Fort Bliss, Texas; James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, NJ; Joseph Hudson, 23, Alamogordo, NM, and Patrick Miller, 23, Park City, Kansas.

The six had been listed as POWs. The seventh soldier was not immediately identified, and the Pentagon was in the process of notifying families.

Riley, Miller, Hudson and Johnson were among five POWs shown on Iraqi television. The fifth was Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission, Texas.

One of the men raised his fist in the air and smiled slightly as he strode from the helicopter at the southern Iraq airbase. Another limped, apparently with an injured right ankle.

"They look to be in pretty good condition ... all giving the thumbs up," said Col Larry Brown, of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Some wore blue-and-white striped pyjamas, another was in blue shorts.

Marines at the base came forward to applaud and pat them on the back.

Capt David Romley said Marines marching north toward Tikrit were met by Iraqi soldiers north of Samarra who approached the 3rd Light Armoured Reconnaissance Company, and the seven Americans were with them.

Another spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Capt Neil Murphy, said the Iraqi soldiers who had brought the Americans had been abandoned by their officers and "realising that it was the right thing to do, they brought these guys back."

"We go to every effort to recover any of the Marines or any of our soldiers taken captive," Romley said.

Rumsfeld said Iraqis told US troops that they would find the seven missing soldiers at a location about four or five miles south of Tikrit.

"They said 'you should go get them,' and they did," Mr Rumsfeld said.

When Marine combat headquarters got news that the missing had been found, the troops applauded a rare thing to happen in combat operations, Murphy said.

"You could feel the happiness and excitement in the combat operations centre" he said.

Pentagon officials have committed to tracking down all soldiers still missing or captured since the spectacular rescue of Jessica Lynch on April 1.

Gen Tommy Franks, commander of US forces, underscored his commitment to rescuing coalition captives.

Officials had been sounding an upbeat note in recent days, saying more people were willing to talk and share secrets about potential POW sightings now Saddam's henchmen are gone.