Family: Body Found in Iraq River is Soldier's

May 24, 08:20 AM

Current Headlines: By STEVEN R. HURST

By STEVEN R. HURST

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD - A body recovered by Iraqi police from the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on Wednesday was identified as one of three American soldiers abducted in an ambush claimed by al-Qaida, relatives and officials said.

A second body also was found in the area, but there was no immediate word whether it also was one of the missing soldiers, according to a U.S. military official who requested anonymity because the information has not yet been released.

Military officials told the family of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. of Torrance, Calif., that a commanding officer identified the remains recovered from the river but that DNA tests still were pending.

"They told us, 'We're sorry to inform you the body we found has been identified as Joe,'

" said the soldier's aunt, Debbie Anzack. "I'm in disbelief."

Joseph Anzack, 20, vanished along with the two others after their combat team was ambushed May 12 about 20 miles outside of Baghdad. Five others, including an Iraqi, were killed in the ambush, subsequently claimed by al-Qaida.

American forces also disclosed nine more deaths Wednesday, raising to 20 the number of U.S. troops killed in four days.

The spike in American deaths and the discovery of the bodies come at a difficult moment for Washington, where the Bush administration and Congress are struggling to agree on funding for the war. The search for the captured soldiers also has taken thousands of troops out of the pool of forces for the Baghdad security crackdown.

Nationwide, at least 104 people were killed in sectarian violence or found dead Wednesday, including 32 who di ed in suicide bombings. One bombing took place 60 miles west of the capital, the other in a city to the east near the Iranian border.

In the search for U.S. soldiers ambushed and captured May 12, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces have trudged in temperatures higher than 110 degrees through desert and lush farmland, sometimes wading in sewage-polluted irrigation ditches.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the remains later identified as those of Anzack were recovered by Iraqi police.

Witnesses said police using civilian boats searched for other bodies on the river in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, and U.S. troops intensified their presence on a nearby bridge as helicopters flew overhead, witnesses said.

Hassan al-Jibouri, 32, said he saw the body with head wounds and whip marks on its back floating in the river Wednesday morning. He and others then alerted police.

The military has warned that U.S. casualties were likely to increase as troops made more frequent patrols during the U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad, now in its fourth month.

The other missing soldiers are Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.

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