WASHINGTON — Two soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have died as a result of friendly fire, Army officials said Wednesday.

The Army said it is investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., who were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers were initially told they were killed by enemy fire.

According to Army Col. Daniel Baggio, unit commanders in Iraq did not initially suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit has found that may be a possibility.

A supplemental report filed Feb. 28 suggested that the initial reports might be wrong but that an investigation was still under way, he said. It took another month before the families of the two soldiers were told, on March 31, that friendly fire was suspected.

Wednesday's disclosure comes on the heels of the announcement last week that nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. The military found no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of the former NFL player.

IRAN TO FREE 15 BRITISH SAILORS

TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defused a growing confrontation with Britain, announcing the surprise release of 15 captive British sailors Wednesday and then gleefully accepting the crew's thanks and handshakes in what he called an Easter gift.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed "profound relief" over the peaceful end to the 13-day crisis. "Throughout we have taken a measured approach — firm but calm, not negotiating, but not confronting either," Blair said in London, adding a message to the Iranian people that "we bear you no ill will."

The announcement in Tehran was a breakthrough in a crisis that had escalated over nearly two weeks, raising oil prices and fears of military conflict in the volatile region. The move to release the sailors suggested that Iran's hard-line leadership decided it had shown its strength but did not want to push the standoff too far.

Iran did not get the main thing it sought — a public apology for entering Iranian waters. Britain, which said its crew was in Iraqi waters when seized, insists it never offered a quid pro quo, either, instead relying on quiet diplomacy.

Syria, Iran's close ally, said it played a role in winning the release. "Syria exercised a sort of quiet diplomacy to solve this problem and encourage dialogue between the two parties," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said in Damascus.

SHORTER TERM SOUGHT FOR EX-TALIBAN SOLDIER

SAN FRANCISCO — The lawyer and parents of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh asked President Bush on Wednesday to commute his 20-year prison term, citing the case of an Australian man who was sentenced to less than a year for aiding terrorism.

Lindh, 26, was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 by American forces sent to topple the Taliban after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was charged with conspiring to kill Americans and support terrorists but pleaded guilty to lesser offenses, including carrying weapons against U.S. forces.

Lindh's lawyer and father said the lighter sentence given to Australian David Hicks should be reflected in Lindh's case.

"It is a question of proportionality. It is a question of fairness, and it is a question of the religious experience John Walker Lindh had," attorney James Brosnahan said. "And it was not in any way directed at the United States."

Lindh converted to Islam and went to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban against the Northern Alliance, which received U.S. backing.

PELOSI MEETS WITH SYRIAN LEADER

DAMASCUS, Syria — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held talks with Syria's leader Wednesday despite White House objections, saying she pressed President Bashar Assad over his country's support for militant groups and passed him a peace message from Israel.

The meeting was an attempt to push the Bush administration to open a direct dialogue with Syria, a step that the White House has rejected. Congressional Democrats insist the U.S. attempts to isolate Syria have failed to force the Assad government to change its policies.

Rep. Tom Lantos, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who was in Pelosi's delegation, said the meeting "reinforced sharply" the potential benefits of talking to Syria. "This is only the beginning of our constructive dialogue with Syria and we hope to build on this visit," he told reporters.

On Tuesday, President Bush denounced Pelosi's visit to Syria, saying it sends mixed signals to Assad's government. "Sending delegations doesn't work. It's simply been counterproductive," Bush said.

Washington says Syria is fueling Iraq's violence by allowing Sunni insurgents to operate from its territory. It also accuses it of backing terrorism because of its support for the Hezbollah and Hamas militant groups and of destabilizing the Lebanese government.

GUNMEN ABDUCT 22 SHIITE SHEPHERDS IN IRAQ

BAGHDAD — Heavily armed gunmen on Wednesday abducted 22 Shiite shepherds who were tending thousands of sheep and had wandered into a dangerous Sunni area west of Baghdad, while six power plant workers were gunned down in northern Iraq.

The attacks reflected the spread of sectarian violence outside Baghdad as violence declines in the capital, where a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown is in its eighth week.

The shepherds had traveled from the Shiite holy city of Karbala to a greener stretch of land in the vast area around Amariyah, some 25 miles west of Baghdad in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Mishawi said.

A shepherd who escaped the attack said about 20 men with automatic rifles drove up in vehicles and opened fire on the group as their several thousand sheep were grazing.

"I suddenly realized that we must be near Amariyah and that Sunnis were attacking us," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "Six of us were able to flee in our pickup but unfortunately they kidnapped 22 friends of mine and stole our sheep."

OBAMA'S FUNDRAISING RIVALS THAT OF CLINTON

DAVENPORT, Iowa — With a stunning $25 million fundraising haul for his presidential campaign, Democrat Barack Obama affirmed his status Wednesday as Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief rival.

The freshman Illinois senator proved he could channel his appeal into significant financial muscle, and he fell just short of the record $26 million Clinton brought in. By any measure, it was an astonishing figure for a political newcomer elected to the U.S. Senate just two years ago.

Obama was in Iowa Wednesday, with a rally in Mason City planned for the afternoon. In an e-mail message to supporters, he said his fundraising success represented "an unmistakable message to the political establishment in Washington about the power and seriousness of our challenge."

His campaign released additional details illustrating the breadth of Obama's support. He had 100,000 contributors in the first quarter, with more than half donating online for a total of $6.9 million. Clinton, by contrast, had about 50,000 contributors and raised $4.2 million online.

STUDY TOUTS GOOD MAMMOGRAM READER

BOSTON — A good mammogram reader may do just as well at spotting cancers without expensive new computer systems often used for a second opinion, a new study suggests. Computerized mammography, now used for about a third of the nation's mammograms, too often finds harmless spots that lead to false scares, researchers found. That conflicts with earlier studies showing benefit from the systems.

"It looks like computer-aided detection might not be working like people thought it would," said lead researcher Dr. Joshua Fenton, a family doctor at the University of California-Davis, in Sacramento.

The findings, which appeared Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, touch on a rapidly spreading technology first marketed in 1998.

Known as computer-aided detection or CAD, it consists of a computer coupled with software that identifies suspicious spots on mammograms and visibly marks them.

Here's how it works. When mammograms are taken, radiologists first read the X-rays and make their own judgments. But they can then double-check with the computer system to see if they have missed anything that's worth examining further.

1 DOCTOR PRESCRIBED ALL 11 DRUGS FOR ANNA NICOLE

MIAMI — One doctor authorized all 11 prescription medications found in Anna Nicole Smith's hotel room the day the Playboy Playmate died of a drug overdose, according to documents released by the medical examiner's office Wednesday.

More than 600 pills — including about 450 muscle relaxants — were missing from prescriptions that were no more than five weeks old, according to information obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

It was unclear if Smith took all of them.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, a psychiatrist and friend of the starlet's, authorized all the prescription medications in the Hollywood, Fla., hotel room where Smith was found unresponsive shortly before her death Feb. 8, the medical examiner's office said. Eroshevich had traveled with Smith to Florida.