A spokesman for the US military has denied reports that Al Qaeda has kidnapped two Marines in western Iraq.
A statement posted on a web site today claimed two soldiers had been taken prisoner and issued a 24-hour ultimatum to US forces to release female Sunni Muslim prisoners.
"Al Qaeda soldiers succeeded in kidnapping two Marines ... and Al Qaeda is giving the infidels 24 hours to release female Sunni Muslim prisoners ... or they (Western forces) should not bother to look for their children," the statement said on a Web site generally used by the group.
However, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, said: "I have not heard anything about any of our folks being taken. I would suspect that these are unfounded rumours, as that is what has happened in the past."