BAGHDAD — An al-Qaida front group warned the United States on Monday to halt its expanding search for three missing American soldiers "if you want their safety." The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time it believes the servicemen are in terrorist hands.

The statements came as thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops swept through farmhouses, fields and palm groves south of Baghdad in hopes of finding the soldiers — last seen before a pre-dawn attack Saturday in an area considered a stronghold of Sunni extremists. Four Americans and one Iraqi soldier were killed in the ambush.

For a third day, jets, helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft crisscrossed the skies over the sparsely populated farm area near Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi troops — backed by dog teams — searched vehicles and pedestrians. Other teams peered into crawl spaces and probed for possible secret chambers in homes.

Residents complained of random detentions and homes being ransacked as the hunt drew in more troops and brought taunting messages from the presumed captors.

In a Web posting, the Islamic State of Iraq, an insurgent alliance that includes al-Qaida, demanded that the Americans stop the search because it will "lead to nothing but exhaustion."

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Justice Department's No. 2 official resigning

WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said Monday he will resign, the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor over the firing of U.S. attorneys, The Associated Press has learned.

McNulty, who has served 18 months as the Justice Department's second-in-command, announced his plans at a closed-door meeting of U.S. attorneys in San Antonio, according to two senior department aides. He said he will remain at the department until this fall or until the Senate approves a successor, the aides said.

McNulty could not be immediately reached for comment Monday. Justice aides said he has been considering leaving for months and never intended to serve more than two years as deputy attorney general.

But his ultimate decision to step down, the aides said, was hastened by anger at being linked to the prosecutors' purge that Congress is investigating to determine if eight U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about McNulty's decision.

McNulty also irked his boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, by testifying in February that at least one of the fired prosecutors was ordered to make way for a protege of Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser. Gonzales, who has resisted lawmakers' calls to resign, maintains the firings were proper, and rooted in the prosecutors' lackluster performances.

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Senate to vote as early as this week on Iraq war funding

WASHINGTON — The Senate is expected to vote as early as this week on whether to cut off money for the Iraq war next year, as well as on a softer measure calling for troops to leave this fall.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday the two measures would be offered as amendments to a water projects funding bill being debated this week. While the Senate had planned to take up Iraq legislation this week, Reid had previously been unclear what specifics members would consider.

The first amendment, backed by Reid and Sen. Russ Feingold, would require that combat operations end by March 31, 2008, by cutting off money after that date.

The second measure would provide more than $120 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as various domestic projects. It would call for troops to begin leaving Iraq by Oct. 1, but allow the president to waive that requirement.

Passage of the $120 billion in war spending would not allow the Senate to begin negotiating with the House and send President Bush a bill by the end of the month, said Rodell Mollineau, a Reid spokesman. Nevertheless, he added, "these are important votes. This will give members an opportunity to debate these issues and have up-or-down votes on these."

Cruise ship runs aground off Alaska as passengers evacuate

JUNEAU, Alaska — A riverboat-style cruise ship ran aground off the Alaska coast early Monday, forcing an evacuation of more than 200 passengers before it could move again with a Coast Guard escort.

All passengers had been evacuated from the Empress of the North by 7 a.m., Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane said. There were no reports of injuries.

The ship left under its own power and arrived in Juneau with a Coast Guard escort about 10 hours after the grounding, Lane said.

The passengers were expected to arrive later in Juneau aboard a state ferry.

"The story is shaping up for the good," Lane said.

Bombing victims say Eric Rudolph is taunting them

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Victims of Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion extremist who pulled off a series of bombings across the South, say he is taunting them from deep within the nation's most secure federal prison, and authorities say there is little they can do to stop him.

Rudolph, who was captured after a five-year manhunt and pleaded guilty in deadly bombings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and a Birmingham abortion clinic, is serving life in prison at the "Supermax" penitentiary in Florence, Colo.

Housed in the most secure part of the prison, he has no computer and little contact with the outside world aside from writing letters.

But Rudolph's long essays have been posted on the Internet by a supporter who maintains an Army of God Web site. The Army of God is the same loose-knit group that Rudolph claimed to represent in letters sent after the blasts.

In one piece, Rudolph seeks to justify violence against abortion clinics by arguing that Jesus would condone "militant action in defense of the innocent."

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Giuliani's firm lobbied government for clients

WASHINGTON — As a partner in a law and lobbying firm, Rudy Giuliani has profited from his firm's work representing corporate clients before virtually every Cabinet department, exposing himself to a wide range of potential ethical entanglements.

If Giuliani were elected president, his administration would be on the receiving end of regulatory requests, contract bids and policy proposals by the same clients of his Houston firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, that have contributed toward his personal net worth of millions of dollars.

Although the Republican presidential candidate has so far declined to identify all the companies with which Bracewell and his other firms have done business over the past five years, The Associated Press identified more than 175 as part of an expansive review of lobbying records, court filings and securities reports.

Giuliani's law and lobbying clients have included Saudi Arabia, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., and chewing tobacco maker UST Inc.

Traditional procedures for government officials to prevent ethical conflicts — expressly avoiding issues directly involving their former employer — would be unavailable for a commander in chief. It is unheard of for a president, when taking office, to promise to avoid a particular policy issue.

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Blood pressure rising around the globe

WASHINGTON — The numbers are a shock: Almost 1 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure, and over half a billion more will harbor this silent killer by 2025. It's not just a problem for the ever-fattening Western world. Even in parts of Africa, high blood pressure is becoming common.

That translates into millions of deaths from heart disease alone. Yet hypertension doesn't command the attention of, say, bird flu, which so far has killed fewer than 200 people.

"Hypertension has gone a bit out of fashion," says Dr. Jan Ostergren of Sweden's Karolinska University Hospital, who co-authored a first-of-its-kind analysis of the global impact of high blood pressure.

The idea: to rev up world governments to fight bad blood pressure just as countries have banded together in the past to fight infectious diseases.

International heart specialists welcome the push.

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'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff likely to find a home on ABC

LOS ANGELES — Will a "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff prove good medicine for ABC? "Private Practice," the tentative title for the drama featuring Dr. Addison Shepherd of "Grey's Anatomy," was considered an odds-on favorite for the network's fall schedule being unveiled Tuesday.

The spinoff was tested as part of a special episode of ABC's hit medical drama that aired earlier this month. More than 21 million people tuned in, above the season average of 19.1 million for "Grey's."

ABC had no comment Monday on the show's status.

Kate Walsh stars as Shepherd, who leaves behind Seattle Grace Hospital and her ex, Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd, for a fresh start in Los Angeles. She reconnects with a friend whose medical practice needs an obstetrician, and with the friend's former husband and business partner.

Co-stars in the special included Merrin Dungey, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs, Amy Brenneman and Paul Adelstein.

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Cerberus to pay $7.4B for part of DaimlerChrysler

DETROIT — Chrysler's 80,000 workers may pay the price for German-based parent DaimlerChrysler's decision on Monday to turn over the keys of its U.S. car company to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion.

Talks begin soon between the United Auto Workers and Detroit's car makers on a national contract and analysts expect Cerberus, headed by former Treasury Secretary John Snow, to push for radical changes at its money-losing Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge operations.

The announcement sent shudders through much of Chrysler's work force, despite assurances from Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda that there are no major plans under discussion with Cerberus to cut jobs beyond a previously announced restructuring plan.

That wasn't good enough for Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz Hargrove. He said he had "enormous concerns," noting that many private equity groups have a long-standing history of "job cuts as opposed to job creation."