Claim: Two US soldiers kidnapped in Iraq

A previously unknown group claimed today to have captured two US soldiers in an attack on a military convoy west of Baghdad, according to a statement broadcast on Lebanese television.

Pentagon officials said they were investigating the report and said they had no information yet on whether it was true.

The typewritten statement from a group calling itself Al-Madina al-Munawara Division was sent to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp with two identification cards, the privately-owned station said.

The authenticity of the documents could not be immediately verified.

LBC broadcast close-ups of the cards – a laminated military ID in the name of Capt Katherine Rose of the 142nd Corps Support Battalion and a Pennsylvania driver’s licence in the name of Andrew Peters.

A call to the address on the driver’s licence was answered by a person who hung up.

The statement said the two Americans were wounded and captured when an Al-Madina unit attacked their convoy west of Baghdad. It did not say when or exactly where the attack took place.

It warned British and Australian troops, as well as all other countries that may send troops to Iraq, that they will be subjected to more attacks.

The statement said Al-Madina Al-Munawara Division is made up of members of the former Iraqi army under the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Saddam’s old Republican Guard, comprising some of Iraq’s best-equipped and most-dedicated troops, included a unit called Al-Madina al-Munawara.

Literally, the name means City of Light in Arabic. It is also the formal name of the city of Medina, the second holiest city after Mecca in Saudi Arabia.