9 detained in hunt for missing soldiers
BAGHDAD — The American military widened the search for three missing U.S. soldiers, detaining nine people in a raid Saturday about 25 miles northwest of where the service members were taken captive last weekend.
At least three mortar shells or rockets slammed into the Green Zone after British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived for talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders. One person was injured, but it was unclear how far Blair was from the blasts.
A U.S. military statement said the nine detainees were arrested in the town of Amiriyah, a longtime Sunni insurgent area, following "tips and information leads in the disappearance of three U.S. soldiers" from the Army's 10th Mountain Division.
Tribes in the Amiriyah area are related to those who live close to where the soldiers were seized May 12 in an attack in which four U.S. troops and an Iraqi soldier were killed.
In addition, U.S. troops arrested two people in Baqouba "associated" with the al-Qaida command network, the U.S. said. Baqouba is 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, and it was unclear whether their arrest was directly related to the search for the missing soldiers.
An al-Qaida-linked group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, in which four American soldiers and an Iraqi were killed.
The focus of the search is around the village of Quarghuli, 12 miles south of Baghdad, where the soldiers were captured following an attack on their observation post.
During the Green Zone barrage, one round hit the British Embassy compound, according to security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information. It was not known whether Blair was in the compound when shell exploded.
A fourth projectile exploded just outside the Green Zone, U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said. Fintor gave no further details and did not mention Blair's presence.
Blair's official spokesman downplayed the incident, saying there was "nothing to suggest anything other than business as usual."
Mortar and rocket attacks against the Green Zone have increased in recent weeks, raising alarm among U.S. officials who live and work in what had been considered the only secure haven in the turbulent Iraqi capital.
The U.S. ordered embassy employees to wear protective vests and helmets after four Asian contractors working for the U.S. government were killed May 3 when rockets or mortars slammed into the Green Zone, a 3.5 square-mile-area along the Tigris River in the center of the city.
This month, reporters covering the visit of Vice President Dick Cheney were hustled into a secure area when a large explosion rattled windows in the U.S. Embassy. Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said the vice president's meeting "was not disturbed and he was not moved."
In March, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ducked for cover when a shell exploded about 50 yards away during a joint news conference with al-Maliki.
