US troops made two failed attempts to rescue British hostage Kenneth Bigley and the two Americans he was held captive with, it has been reported.
The American soldiers, possibly joined by US intelligence agents, were deployed on two occasions to locations in Baghdad in a desperate bid to find and free the men.
But each time, there was no sign of the hostages, who were all eventually beheaded, CNNhas claimed.
The revelation came after Foreign Secretary Jack Straw earlier told the Commons that an intermediary had passed messages to the terrorists, urging them not to kill 62-year-old civil engineer Mr Bigley.
A US official told CNN that US soldiers and "other Government personnel", probably CIA operatives, received intelligence tip-offs as to where the hostages were being held by insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Both times, the source said, the missions came up with "dry holes".
It appeared at both locations that people had been there, but it was unclear whether the hostages had been moved or if the intelligence was simply wrong.
"A lot of people had a lot of sleepless nights trying to find them," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.
Mr Bigley, from Liverpool, and Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, were kidnapped from their Baghdad home on September 16th.
The first rescue attempt came when all three men were still alive, the source said. The second came after Mr Armstrong was killed September 20th.