BAGHDAD, June 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq for three days after apparently being abducted were found dead Saturday, June 28, some 35 kilometers northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, an American military spokesman said.

"The bodies of two soldiers who were missing since June 25 were recovered," Lieutenant Colonel Martin Compton told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Pentagon named the two men as Sergeant First Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Lincoln, New Jersey, and Private First Class Kevin C. Ott, 27, of Columbus, Ohio.

They were both assigned to the 18th Field Artillery Regiment.

The U.S. military had earlier said the two soldiers were "reported missing from their security post at the rocket-demolition site near Balad," along with their Humvee light-armored vehicle, north of Baghdad, on Wednesday.

One local, Hammid Hussein Ali, said he had not been a member of the Baath party, but that he was not sorry the soldiers had been abducted.

"We are all with Saddam Hussein and we hope every day two soldiers will be kidnapped," he said.

"We were left without water, without electricity, without security by the Americans. We lost our dignity."

A U.S. military spokesman said Friday, June 27, that three Iraqi nationals had been detained in connection with the abduction.

"The soldiers were conducting security at the site in their Humvee when the incident occurred. The vehicle and personnel were reported missing and ground and aerial searches in the area have been unable to locate them," he said.

U.S. Army Major Robert Gwinner earlier told AFP that military intelligence "believe Fedayeen were using it (the Humvee), trying to get close to Americans with the vehicle to probably conduct another terrorist attack."

He said the military vehicle was last spotted in Baghdad, and that the "best intelligence reports we have right now is that it was Fedayeen."

Another soldier involved in the searches, Sergeant First Class Tyrone Paige, admitted Friday that U.S. troops were "baffled" at how someone would be able to abduct U.S. troops and their armored vehicle.

The U.S.-led occupation forces have detained more than 900 Iraqis alleging they were loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein regime and were "subverting" reconstruction efforts.

"In the last week, we have detained more than 900 former regime loyalists, former Fedayeen and other criminals that are out there subverting our efforts," a senior U.S. military official, who did not wish to be named, said Saturday.

He said some of those arrested had been released, but did not specify how many were still being detained.

"Under Operation Desert Scorpion, we continue to conduct raids as we get intelligence to be able to take down these subversive elements that remain," added the spokesman.

"On the high value targets we are steadily collecting the 55 key regime figures with over 30 collected so far," he said, adding: "There is no doubt in my mind that we will be able to pick up the remainder."

The occupation forces launched the operation on June 15 aimed at rooting out armed Iraqi resistance operations, announcing two days later the detention of 350 people in the Baghdad area and northern Iraq.

The senior official conceded that U.S. forces were taking casualties but insisted the operation would continue.