US Soldier Held Captive by Iraqi Resistance as 13 Iraqis Killed in Kufa, Mosul

17/04/2004| IslamWeb

Videotape aired Friday showed a U.S. soldier held captive by masked men who said they want to trade him for comrades imprisoned by the U.S.-led occupation. The kidnappers also suggested they were holding other hostages. Keith Maupin, 20, was the first U.S. serviceman and second American confirmed kidnapped in a recent wave of abductions in Iraq, The AP reported. The footage was aired by the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera. "My name is Keith Matthew Maupin. I am a soldier from the 1st Division," he said, looking into the camera. "I am married with a 10-month-old son. I came to liberate Iraq, but I did not come willingly because I wanted to stay with my child." During the video, one of the gunmen was heard saying: "We are keeping him to be exchanged for some of the prisoners captured by the occupation forces." "Some of our groups managed to capture one of the American troops, and he is one of many others. He is being treated according to the treatment of prisoners in the Islamic religion and he is in good health," the gunman said on the tape. Maupin was listed as missing after his convoy was attacked April 9 outside Baghdad. In the latest bloodshed, one Iraqi civilian was wounded Saturday in Baghdad as a blast went off near a US patrol. Elsewhere, U.S. troops skirmished with Shiite fighters near the southern city of Kufa; five Iraqis died. In the north, mortars fired by Iraqis killed eight civilians in Mosul. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Videotape aired Friday showed a U.S. soldier held captive by Iraqi resistance fighters. (Al-Jazeera)