The remains of the last US soldier unaccounted for from America's nearly nine-year war in Iraq have been handed over to his family in Michigan, an Iraqi relative said on Sunday.
US army Sergeant Ahmed Qusai al-Taie's remains were handed over to the US on February 22, and after positive identification, his family in Ann Arbor in the US state of Michigan was informed, according to his uncle, Entifadh Qanbar.
"This thing has been dragging along for so long," Qanbar told AFP by telephone from Beirut. "We didn't lose hope, but hope was diminishing."
"I wouldn't call it relief, I would call it closure."
Qanbar said the fact that Taie was the lone soldier whose fate was unresolved "was one of the frustrating things for us, because everyone else's fate was known, except for Ahmed."
Taie went missing on October 23, 2006, after leaving the heavily-fortified Green Zone without permission in order to visit his wife in Baghdad.
The American of Iraqi descent, who was 41 when he was kidnapped by masked gunmen, moved to the United States as a teenager and joined the army reserve in December 2004.
He was mobilised in August 2005 and deployed to Iraq three months later.
