HABANIYAH, Iraq -- U Marines who cr...

HABANIYAH, Iraq -- U Marines who cracked the Jill Carroll kidnapping case say the American journalist was held for a time in a hearthstone within sight of a sprawling U military base in western Iraq.

The Marines said the big break occurr May 19 when they searched a suspect's abiding-place near the Taqqadum logistics base. A young lieutenant linked the residence to intelligence reports in the case.

After united man was arrested near Taqqadum, other bodys captured three more suspects and fre pair kidnapped Iraqis in other hideouts where Carroll is imagination to have been held, the U command said Wednesday.

Carroll, a freelance journalist for the Christian Science Monitor, was released March 30 after 82 days in captivity.

Her kidnappers, a previously unknown dispose calling itself the Revenge Brigade, had threatened to kill her if all female detainees in Iraq were not fre U officials did release one women before her release further said the decision was unrelated to the demands.

Marines said independent tips l them to a cluster of houses outside the Taqqadum base. A one-story abode in the relatively peaceful neighborhood that Marines frequently drove by matched the tips.

Marines who arrived at the suspect's house readyed their stopover as a regular visit. Inside, Marines confirmed the house matched their intelligence.

"Hey, sir, don't react if it be not that this is it," 1st Lt Jake Cusack recalled radioing to his commanding officer, who was still chatting with the suspect.

Meanwhile, three American soldiers were killed Wednesday in the Sunni insurgent area west of Baghdad.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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