DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAQ: 41 IRAQ'S FREED FROM AL QUEDAS CLUTCHES

U.S. troops free al-Qaeda prisoners
by ROBERT BURNS

WASHINGTON — U.S. forces rescued 41 Iraqi civilians Sunday from an al-Qaeda hide-out northeast of Baghdad, including some who showed signs of torture and broken bones, a senior U.S. official said.

Major-General William Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said it was the largest number of detained Iraqis ever found in a single al-Qaeda hide-out. Some among the 41 had been held as long as four months, he said.

Details were incomplete, but Maj.-Gen. Caldwell said some of the freed Iraqis were being transported to medical facilities for treatment of their injuries. There were no indications that Americans had been held at the hide-out, he said. It was not immediately clear whether any al-Qaeda figures were captured.

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