Captors of Britons in Iraq linked to Iran - Petraeus

BAGHDAD, June 21 (Reuters) The top US commander in Iraq said in an interview published today that kidnappers who seized five Britons in Baghdad last month had links to Iran, adding he believed the captives were still alive.

General David Petraeus told the Times of London the kidnappers were part of the Mehdi Army militia of fiercely anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

''They are not rank and file Jaish al-Mahdi (Mehdi Army).

They are trained in Iran, equipped with Iranian (weapons), and advised by Iran,'' Petraeus told The Times. A transcript of the interview was posted on the British daily's Web site.

Iran denies any role in stirring up violence in Iraq. There was no immediate response from Tehran to Petraeus' comments.

His remarks may add to tensions between Washington and Tehran. The two foes are already pitted in a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

US troops arrested five Iranians in northern Iraq for aiding militants earlier this year, while Iran is holding three Iranian-US citizens on security-related charges.

The Britons -- a computer expert and his four bodyguards -- were snatched in late May from inside a Finance Ministry building by dozens of gunmen wearing police uniforms. Petraeus said that he believed the five were still alive.

''We have had no evidence to the contrary,'' he said.

Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, has said he suspected the Mehdi Army was behind the kidnapping because the ministry was close to their stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad.

Petraeus said there was an intensive search under way to find the men, and there had already been several unsuccessful attempts to free them.

''There have been several operations to try to rescue them, we just have not had the right intelligence. There is a very intensive effort ongoing to try to locate and rescue them,'' he said.

The general also spelled out that he believed Tehran had intensified its activities in Iraq since 2004.

''The Iranian involvement here we have found to be much, much more significant than we thought before. They have since about the summer of 2004 played a very, very important role in training in Iran, funding, arming,'' he said.

The United States and Iran held rare talks in Baghdad on May 29 to discuss the security situation in Iraq, but Petraeus did not indicate whether there had been any change in behaviour since.

REUTERS LPB VV1420