This may be more deception, or it may be Sunnis enacting Al-Sadr's call to his Shi'ites to seize hostages in order to force the release of prisoners. From [1] Reuters, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has kidnapped two Marines in western Iraq and issued a 24-hour ultimatum to U.S. forces to release female Sunni Muslim prisoners, a statement posted on a Web site said on Sunday.

"Al Qaeda soldiers succeeded in kidnapping two Marines ... and Al Qaeda is giving the infidels 24 hours to release female Sunni Muslim prisoners ... or they (Western forces) should not bother to look for their children," the statement said on a Web site generally used by the group.

A spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, said: "I have not heard anything about any of our folks being taken. I would suspect that these are unfounded rumors, as that is what has happened in the past."