Former Twin Cities cop still missing in Iraq

Coalition forces in Iraq are still looking for a former Twins Cities police officer who was kidnapped along with four other contractors on Thursday.

Paul Reuben had been working for nearly two years for a security firm before the kidnapping. He had intended to be home from his dangerous job to celebrate his 40th birthday in the Twin Cities with his twin brother.

British and Iraqi forces raided homes in southern Iraq today and arrested four suspects in the kidnapping of the four American security guards and their Austrian co-worker, an official said.

The raid, which began late Sunday and ended early this morning, took place in Zubair, a mostly Sunni-Arab enclave about 20 miles south of Basra, Capt. Tane Dunlop, the British military spokesman, told the Associated Press.

On Sunday, Iraqi police showed the media 200 suspected insurgents they had arrested the night before while raiding several areas north of Basra, which is 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Both raids failed to find any of the hostages in southern Iraq, a mostly Shiite region.

The Associated Press has reported that a police official said a criminal gang had taken the men and demanded ransom.

On Friday in Minneapolis, about 25 friends and relatives joined together at Loring Park in Minneapolis to pray for Paul Reuben's safe return.

"I love him and I want him back," Reuben's twin brother, Patrick, told the gathering. The group, made up of members of various religions, lit candles in the darkness and turned their backs to a brisk wind as they said the Lord's Prayer.

Patrick Reuben said he remained in shock as he worried about his brother. The situation, he said Friday night, seems surreal.

Their sister, Suzanne, describing how she has been coping with the hours of uncertainty, said: "I think of him being alive, and at home, celebrating his birthday with the family.

"It's really too hard to think about his fate," she said.

Reuben's mother, Johnnie Reuben of Minneapolis, said that though she was cold and hungry at times overnight, she wouldn't turn up the heat or grab something to eat.

"My son, he may be cold, or hungry or injured," she said. "Or maybe they killed him. I just hope whatever group has my son, they consider they came from a mother."

Paul Reuben had another reason for coming home within days. Last Saturday, he learned that Patrick, a Minneapolis police officer, had been hospitalized with a serious leg infection.

"Tell him I love him very much; I'm coming home right away," Paul Reuben had told Patrick's wife, Jennifer, in a phone call that day, apparently from Kuwait, where the firm he worked for, Crescent Security, is based. He also told his sister-in-law that he had been growing concerned for his safety.

His family had thought he would be home by now and were shocked to learn Thursday afternoon that Paul was among the group of 14 people taken hostage, Patrick Reuben said.

Suzanne and Johnnie Reuben said Paul Reuben has twin 16-year-old daughters in Andover; a woman who answered the door at an address under his name declined to be interviewed but said, "Paul's best interests are in all of our hearts."

Fraternal twins, Paul and Patrick grew up as close as could be in south Minneapolis, not far from Diamond Lake, Patrick said. Tall and lanky, they played on the same basketball, baseball and football teams.

The twins have three half-siblings and were raised by their father, Den Reuben, who worked for a delivery service, and their stepmother, Linda, a registered nurse, but spent much time with their mother, Johnnie Reuben.

Paul Reuben served four years in the Marine Corps and, once back in Minnesota, studied law enforcement in college and later was with the St. Louis Park Police Department.

He went to work in 2004 for the high-paying Crescent security firm, telling his brother he wanted to earn enough to buy a house and a Hummer.

Friday night, well-wishers from throughout the nation were sending their thoughts to the Reuben family. In Minneapolis, Patrick Reuben said his boss, Police Chief Tim Dolan, was among those offering support.

Struggling with her emotions after a sleepless night, Reuben's mother, Johnnie, said she was finding strength in the Christian faith she said her son also shared. "I am not ashamed," she said, quoting 2 Timothy 1:12, "for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me."

McClatchy News Service, the Washington Post and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

jpowelll@startribune.com • 612-673-7750

mcaul@startribune.com • 612-673-7646