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Seized Iraq tribal chiefs rescued Iraqi police find headless bodies
(10 minutes later)
Eight members of a group of 11 tribal leaders abducted in Baghdad have been rescued one day after they were seized, the Iraqi defence ministry has said. Twenty decapitated bodies have been found dumped close to a police station near Baquba city in Iraq, police said.
Spokesman Maj Gen Mohammed al-Askari said the sheikhs were freed by Iraqi soldiers in a raid on a house. The identities of the victims were unclear after the grim find west of the volatile mixed Sunni and Shia city, 65km (40 miles) north-east of Baghdad.
It came as eight members of a group of 11 tribal leaders abducted in Baghdad were rescued by Iraqi soldiers.
The sheikhs were freed after a raid on a house near the Iraqi capital.
The troops are searching for the remaining members of the group but reports said one had been found dead.The troops are searching for the remaining members of the group but reports said one had been found dead.
The Sunni and Shia sheikhs from Diyala were seized after meeting government officials about al-Qaeda in Iraq.The Sunni and Shia sheikhs from Diyala were seized after meeting government officials about al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The US military in Iraq on Monday accused an alleged rogue commander from a Shia militia of being behind the kidnappings.
The Americans said the man - whom they named as Arkan Hasnawi - had disobeyed a ceasefire ordered by his militia, the Mehdi Army.
"Arkan Hasnawi and his gang of criminals continue to intimidate and terrorise innocent Iraqi citizens, taking actions that mirror the tactics used by al-Qaeda in Iraq," the military said in a statement, quoted by Reuters news agency.