US military believes al Qaeda has missing soldiers

BAGHDAD, May 14 (Reuters) The US military said today it believed that three U.S. soldiers missing after an attack south of Baghdad on Saturday had been taken by al Qaeda or others associated with the militant group.

''At this time, we believe they were abducted by terrorists belonging to al Qaeda or an affiliated group and this assessment is based on highly credible intelligence information,'' Major-General William Caldwell, the chief US military spokesman in Iraq, said in a statement.

REUTERS TB PM2040