IRAQ QAEDA PUT ON WEB VIDEO OF DOWNED 'COPTER

Nov 8, 11:06 AM (ET)

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in Iraq on Tuesday posted an Internet video apparently showing the bodies of two U.S. Marines killed in a military helicopter which the group said it had shot down.

Several men were shown gathering around the burning helicopter, pulling out two bodies in military fatigues and collecting communications equipment and other debris strewn around the twisted wreckage.

A statement, posted along with the video on an Islamic Web site, said it showed the Super Cobra helicopter which al Qaeda said it shot down with a missile in Ramadi on Wednesday.

The U.S. military has said it was investigating reports by residents that the helicopter was hit by a missile, caught fire and broke apart in the air before crashing.

A Reuters photographer in Ramadi last week said the helicopter appeared to have crashed into a house, which suffered some damage.

Ramadi, about 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad in the Sunni Arab province of Anbar, has seen some of the worst fighting in the insurgency that erupted after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.