Spain's Defence Ministry denied today that any military personnel were being held hostage in Iraq by a Shia militia.
Fighters of the Mehdi Army militia led by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have swept onto the streets of Shia cities across Iraq this week.
An aide to Sadr told a news conference in the Shia holy city of Najaf last night that soldiers from the US-led coalition had been captured in fighting.
Asked today about media reports that Spanish soldiers were being held hostage by Sadr's militia, a Spanish defence ministry spokesman said: "It's a lie." Foreign Ministry officials would not say whether any Spanish civilians might have been abducted in Iraq.
US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the US army in Iraq, said all coalition soldiers stationed in Najaf were in their bases on the fringes of the town.
This week's fighting in Iraq has killed 35 US and allied soldiers and at least 200 Iraqis. It has elicited US assertions of resolve but prompted signs of nervousness among some other countries with troops in Iraq.