Qaeda-led group shows video of "US corpses" in Iraq

DUBAI, July 11 (Reuters) A group led by al Qaeda in Iraq released gruesome footage of two corpses it said were US soldiers killed in June and said the act was to avenge the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl by US soldiers.

US commanders condemned the video as ''barbaric''.

The video, issued by the Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq and posted on an Islamist Web site today, showed the bodies of two Western-looking men dressed in camouflage uniforms. It was not clear from the images whether they were U.S. soldiers.

One body had been decapitated. Both were bloodied and with flesh missing from several parts of their bodies. Several shots showed the bodies being trodden on by unidentified men.

''We present this production, of the remains of the bodies of the two American soldiers kidnapped near Yusufiya, as revenge for our sister whose honour was violated by a soldier from the same regiment,'' the Mujahideen Shura Council said in a statement accompanying the footage.

The group said they abducted the two soldiers after learning of the rape, but had not mentioned the incident in previous statements about the Americans, including the kidnapping claim.

''When the lions of monotheism heard about the news (rape), they remained silent because they did not want the news to spread and became determined to avenge their sister's honour; and God enabled them to capture soldiers from the same regiment,'' the statement said.

Militant groups, including al Qaeda in Iraq, have been quick to issue statements highlighting any abuses by U.S.-led forces and the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government.

Privates First Class Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, kidnapped and killed in Iraq, were from the same unit as five Americans now charged with the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and killing three members of her family in March.

US officers have said they have no evidence of any link to the killing of Tucker and Menchaca, who were abducted when their outpost was overrun and a third soldier killed on June 16.

Many residents in the area were unaware of the rape-murder case when news of the US probe broke at the end of last month and others believed the killings had been the work of militants.

''BARBARIC'' VIDEO The video opened with a statement from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the voice of his recently slain deputy in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, could also be heard.

The US military released a statement in Baghdad saying: ''(It) condemns the release of the video in the strongest of terms; it demonstrates the barbaric and brutal nature of the terrorists and their complete disregard for human life.'' Former private Steven Green has pleaded not guilty in a US civilian court to rape and four counts of murder. Four serving soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment also face rape and murder charges and a fifth a charge of failing to report it.

The military's investigation into the family's killing near Mahmudiya was launched when a soldier spoke of it during stress counselling following the unit's losses in June.

The alleged rape of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi raised issues of taboo and honour in Iraqi society which appear to have limited public mention of her killing, and those of her parents and her 6-year-old sister, in their home around March 12.

Since the military announced its investigation, Iraqis and their government have expressed mounting outrage over the case, which comes after several other murder probes involving U.S.

troops. Many Iraqis complain the troops can kill with impunity.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has demanded a review of US troops' immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law and his human rights minister said a proposal to the Security Council to change their United Nations mandate would be ready next month.

REUTERS SY RN2124