Purported Iraqi group executes US soldier

Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, who was listed as captured on April 16 by the US Department of Defense (DOD), was executed because the Bush administration did not change its policies in Iraq, the statement said.

The group - calling itself the Persistent Power Against the Enemies of God and the Prohphet - claimed the execution was also in revenge for what it called atrocities committed against "Muslim martyrs" in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.

In the videotape, which was aired on the Aljazeera Satellite Channel early on Tuesday, Maupin is seen talking to the camera.

He is dressed in military fatigues.

Aljazeera said it catered to viewers' sensitivities and did not broadcast the execution but said Maupin appeared blindfolded in front of a freshly-dug grave with his back to the camera.

He was then shot in the head.

DOD statement

According to a DOD statement, Maupin and Sargeant Elmer C. Krause, 40, of Greensboro, North Carolina were categorized as duty status - whereabouts unknown on 9 April.

Individuals using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire attacked their convoy. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army Reserve’s 724th Transportation Company, from Bartonville, Illinois, the statement said.


Aljazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4E4D8BDF-ED99-40F1-8C9C-E98BAFC543C6.htm