Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie

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Specialist Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie (ca. 1965) is a Iraqi American United States Army linguist soldier, who was kidnapped on October 23, 2006 in Baghdad.

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[edit] Early life

Al-Taayie is from Ann Arbor, Michigan and his parents are Kousay and Nawal al-Taayie.

[edit] Military service

On October 23, 2006, Al-Taayie was visiting the Karrada neighborhood in central Baghdad, Iraq to see his wife Israa Abdul-Satar's (student at al-Mustansariyah University) family. He was kidnapped along with his brother-in-law by armed men and taken into a waiting vehicles outside. His wife's brother was freed later that evening but Ahmed remained in the kidnappers' possession.

It was first reported that Al-Taayie had violated military rules by marrying an Iraqi woman, as soldiers are generally forbidden from marrying citizens of a country where American forces are engaged in combat. However, on November 2, 2006, Major General William B. Caldwell stated that Ahmed and his wife were married in February 2005 but he didn't arrive in Baghdad until November 2005.

On November 2, 2006, a ransom demand for Al-Taayie was relayed to his uncle Entifad Qanbar, a former spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress and recently an official in the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. Qanbar made contact with an intermediary trusted by the kidnappers. In a secret location in Baghdad, the mediator met with members of the group who showed Qanbar a grainy video on a cell phone screen of a man they claimed was al-Taayie, beaten up and bloody and demanded $250,000 from the soldier's family to secure his release.

Qanbar stated that he wouldn't talk about a price until he had seen for himself some proof that Al-Taayie was still breathing. Qanbar suggested they have his nephew describe the inside of his home in Ann Arbor or that the kidnappers photograph the soldier holding a current newspaper by Saturday, Nov. 4, at 12:00pm.

The U.S. government said Saturday, November 11 that it was offering a US $50,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Al-Taayie.[1]

On February 14, 2007, a proof of life video of Ahmed was posted on a militant Shiite website. A previously unknown group called the "Ahel al-Beit Brigades" claimed responsibility for Ahmed's abduction. The eight second video showed Ahmed reading from a paper but no audio was heard. He appeared thin but in good health. His uncle identified him as the man in the video. Ahmed hasn't been seen or heard from since.

[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "U.S. offers US$50,000 (€38,868) for information leading to recovery of U.S. soldier missing in Baghdad" (November 11 2006). Associated Press. 

[edit] See also

  • SSG Matt Maupin - He was captured by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 while serving in the Iraq War and was allegedly executed sometime in late June of 2004. An Army spokesman later said the video showing Maupin's alleged execution was "totally inconclusive." His body was found in March of 2008.[2]
  • Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun - He served in the United States Marine Corps and was allegedly seized on June 19, 2004. It was later determined to be a hoax and Wassef fled to Lebanon.

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