Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie
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Specialist Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie (IPA: [aː.mɛd qu.sæi æl.tæ.ji)(b. 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 Shiite 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 cousin by armed men and taken into a waiting vehicles outside. His cousin was freed later that evening but Ahmed remained in the kidnappers' possession.
It was first reported that Al-Taayie had violated military rules to marry 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 finally 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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ (November 11 2006) "U.S. offers US$50,000 (€38,868) for information leading to recovery of U.S. soldier missing in Baghdad". 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." [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.
[edit] External links
- A Ransom Demand for the Missing U.S. Soldier
- Missing U.S. soldier was secretly married to college student from Baghdad
- Parents call missing U.S. soldier 'man of peace'
- Report: Abducted GI had married Iraqi woman
- TV report: mother of missing U.S. soldier appeals to his captors to show mercy
- Report: Missing soldier married Iraqi
- Iraqi prime minister gives U.S. envoy an earful in private talks
- US names kidnapped soldier
- Video released by Shiite militant group
Categories: Current events | Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | United States Army soldiers in Iraq | American military personnel of the Iraq War | Kidnappings | Prisoners of war | Missing in action | Iraqi Americans | Arab Americans | Naturalized citizens of the United States | Linguists | 1965 births | Living people
