US soldier still missing in Baghdad

A US military spokesman today said there had been no word on the fate of a US Army solider reported missing in central Baghdad, as troops continued door-to-door searches in the central Karadah district.

US forces threw a security cordon around Karadah last night and Iraqis seeking to pass through the central area today were turned away at roadblocks, forcing them to take long detours to reach homes and offices.

Army Kiowa OH-58 reconnaissance helicopters flying in pairs were seen repeatedly circling the area.

American forces who raided Baghdad’s al-Furat TV yesterday told employees and an official with Iraq’s dominant Shiite political party they were looking for an abducted American officer of Iraqi descent who had left to join family members in Karadah.

“We have not heard anything,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an American spokesman in Baghdad.

“We are sure US forces are doing everything they can in the search,” Garver said.

A US military official in Washington yesterday said the man was a US Army translator of Iraqi descent who may have been abducted.

The last time US soldiers were reported missing was in June, when two soldiers were abducted during an attack on their checkpoint in Baghdad. The soldiers were later found dead, their bodies mutilated, the military said. One of the soldiers had been beheaded.

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for killing the soldiers, and said the successor to terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had “slaughtered” them, according to a web statement that could not be authenticated.