Marine not beheaded, in Safe Place?

[Sparrowhawk]

Report: Group Says

Jul 5, 2:48 PM (ET)

By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD

http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ap/MIDEAST_LEBANON_IRAQ_MARINE.sff_BEI101_20040704035 918.jpg

U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun who Lebanon's official news agency said was killed by his kidnappers in Iraq in this undated photo given to The Associated Press by his family late last month. The National News Agency said Sunday July 4, 2004 that the Foreign Ministry was informed by a Lebanese diplomat in Baghdad that Hassoun, who was kidnapped in Iraq last month, was killed but it did not give further details. News about his killing first came from an Iraqi militant group called the Ansar al-Sunna Army that posted the claim on a Web site. (AP Photo/Family)

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed



BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An Iraqi militant group said Monday it had not killed a U.S. Marine it was holding captive, Al-Jazeera television reported.

In a statement sent to Al-Jazeera, a group, calling itself "Islamic Response," said it was holding Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, a U.S. Marine of Lebanese heritage. The group said he was safe at a location it did not identify.

On Saturday a Web site posting claimed Hassoun had been beheaded. On Sunday, a second Web posting on another Internet site said Hassoun was alive.

The United States reported Hassoun, 24, missing after he did not report for duty at his base in Iraq on June 20. On June 27, Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded along with a statement from militants threatening to kill him unless the United States released all Iraqis in "occupation jails." Militants held a curved sword over his head.

Other militant groups have captured and threatened to behead other foreign Muslim hostages, creating an uproar among many Muslims, including other militants. All the captured Muslims aside from Hassoun have been released unharmed.

The statement Monday claimed that Hassoun had promised not to return to the American military.

The statement was issued in the name of the same group that claimed initial responsibility on the June 27 video for the kidnapping. The group calls itself "Islamic Response," the security wing of the "National Islamic Resistance - 1920 Revolution Brigades." The name refers to the uprising against the British after World War I.

Tarek Nosseir, a spokesman for the Hassoun family in West Jordan, Utah, declined comment Sunday.

Family members said Hassoun was born in Lebanon, educated at American schools there and then joined the Marines after moving to the Salt Lake City area. Hassoun, fluent in Arabic, French and English, was serving in the Marines as a translator in his second stint in Iraq when he was captured.

Hassoun's father, Ali Hassoun, who lives in Tripoli, Lebanon, repeatedly pleaded for his son's release. He and his other sons have contacted politicians and Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamist groups in Iraq in hopes of securing the Marine's release.

[snipowsky]

Something isn't right here. Am I the only one sensing this?

He's in the hands of "Islamic Jihadists" and he is a "U.S. Marine" and he isn't dead yet? I don't buy it!

If that was any other true blue blooded Marine they'd be executed by now for their love of America and not cooperating like they would want us too. Obviously he must be getting some kind of special treatment. He is a Muslim like them. So who's to say he didn't stage this?

I hope I'm wrong about this...but I say he deserted his unit to go back to Lebanon.

[radio relay]

Remember prisoner snatches? They'd send some Recon Grunts out to grab a few gooks, bring 'em back and iterrogate them. Did the same thing with chu hois, before they turned them loose. Guess what? Them terrorists got themselves a chu hoi... 'cept it's an "ex"-Marine!!!

Well, I was giving that ex-Marine the benefit of the doubt (even spilled my guts crying for his slimey butt, in a former post, on another thread). Now I'm pretty sure this low life, piece of filth is a turncoat, and is giving our enemies a whole bunch of information that they shouldn't have. Watch for the terrorists to be trying to infiltrate Marine units, and facilities.

I wouldn't be surprised to see that sh!tbird leading the way!!! What a damned embarassment. Never, ever trust a stinking muslim!

[ivalis]

Relay, you're theory is interesting.

So is another, the reluctance to execute a co-religionist for fear of the political/religious fallout.

I would suggest that if this Marine was a turncoat he would be on Al Jazera. Haven't seen any evidence of that to date.

Time will tell.

[Sparrowhawk]

This Marine was trying to save his own skin and is now capable of anything, including turning to fight against his own.

This I expect, he will do and he will be used for propaganda purposes.

He supposedly promised not to return to the American military.

Maybe they got it in writing...



Semper Fi?


Cook

[MillRatUSMC]

First it was reported that he had gone UA than that he deserted.
Now there this as of four some odd hours;

US Marine Released?
A short press report from Arab satellite television network Al Jazeera states that US Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun has not been murdered and has been taken to a “safe place.” The terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and calls itself “Islamic Response” did not disclose the location.

“Islamic Response” also has not divulged whether they have freed the US Marine outright or if they continue to hold him. The statement claims that Ali Hassoun has “announced he will not rejoin the US army.”

The US Marine was taken hostage in Iraq and threatened with beheading in late June, and Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera broadcast pictures of him blindfolded and in his military fatigues last week.

Its odd that he uses this terminology;
Ali Hassoun has “announced he will not rejoin the US army.”
Maybe they meant US military or the Marine Corps
Most likely he now in Tripoli, Lebanon with dad.
This bird should never have gotten out of boot camp as United States Marine.
Now he will be an ex-marine...

<MARQUEE BEHAVIOR=scroll DIRECTION=left LOOP=infinite>"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived." ~ General George S. Patton, Jr US Army ~</MARQUEE>

http://www.geocities.com/millrat_99/cmem.html
My new and improved site on the Community Veterans Memorial.

"The saddest part of the job that I have undertaken is that the armed services by their nature, represent the last resort,
when rational solutions to the country's problems have failed."
~ Lt. Cmdr. Harry Mossman US Navy ~
Remains recover in 1992 and indentified recently.

"A man or woman is measured
by the footprint,
he or she leaves behind".

"They were the best you had, America,
and you turned your back on them".
~ Joe Galloway ~ Speaking about Vietnam Veterans

Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
Ricardo

[yellowwing]

This is a really FUBAR situation. As far as I'm concerned when things go FUBAR, the Marine at the end of the rope/sword should be given EVERY benefit of the doubt.

What ever really happened, I am sure that there are 12 of his line Brothers ready to run into Hell to snatch him back.

It was quite a few days before they released that those four Brothers killed in that compound were Scout Snipers.

If he has broken faith or not, I still pray for his safe return.

[ivalis]

Rat, his dad is in Utah. Just as goofy a place as Lebanon, MHO, LOL.

[MillRatUSMC]

ivalis I beg to differ, his dad is Tripoli, Lebanon...
From a report on my cable provider...
Hassoun, educated at American schools in his native Lebanon before moving to the Salt Lake City area, was serving his second stint in Iraq as a translator fluent in Arabic, French and English, when he disappeared June 20.

Hassoun's father, Ali Hassoun, who lives in Tripoli, Lebanon, repeatedly pleaded for his son's release. He and his other sons have contacted politicians and Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamist groups in Iraq in hopes of securing the Marine's release.

I wanted to point out that we're taking for granted that he is a Muslim but there more faiths in Lebanon and the Middle East, the Christan Militia was made up of Christan in Lebanon.
That like saying for example, every Mexican is a catholic, but SparrowHawk is a pastor of a Protestant religion.
We might be assuming incorrect on his faith.
As Yellowwing says, we should give him every benefit of the doubt...

<MARQUEE BEHAVIOR=scroll DIRECTION=left LOOP=infinite>He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors...Thomas Jefferson</MARQUEE>


http://www.geocities.com/millrat_99/cmem.html
My new and improved site on the Community Veterans Memorial.

"The saddest part of the job that I have undertaken is that the armed services by their nature, represent the last resort,
when rational solutions to the country's problems have failed."
~ Lt. Cmdr. Harry Mossman US Navy ~
Remains recover in 1992 and indentified recently.

"A man or woman is measured
by the footprint,
he or she leaves behind".

"They were the best you had, America,
and you turned your back on them".
~ Joe Galloway ~ Speaking about Vietnam Veterans

Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
Ricardo

[thedrifter]

Brother Says Missing Marine in Iraq Freed

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The family of a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine held hostage in Iraq (news - web sites) said it was confident Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun had been freed and was well, though relatives have not heard directly from him, his brother said Tuesday.



"We have received reliable information the guy is free," Sami Hassoun told The Associated Press from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where the Marine has family.


Though he had not spoken with his brother, who was serving as a translator with the U.S. Marines in Iraq when he went missing June 20, Sami Hassoun said "we received a sign from my brother reassuring us."


He would not say what was the sign, but said the family received information deemed credible from a person he did not identify who came to their Tripoli home. That person, he said, did not disclose the whereabouts of the Marine to the family.


Lebanese Foreign Ministry officials said in Beirut that its embassy in Baghdad said Hassoun was still alive. They gave no further details.


Hassoun's alleged captors have claimed he was romantically involved with an Arab woman and was lured away from his Marine base and captured.


Hassoun's family in Tripoli and in Utah have had their hopes dashed and raised with conflicting information about the Marine's fate coming from his purported captors and Lebanese officials.


On Saturday, a militant group calling itself the Ansar al-Sunna Army claimed on a Web site that it had beheaded the 24-year-old Marine, adding it would release video backing that assertion. But the group said Sunday it did not issue the statement, leaving it unclear what had happened to Hassoun.


In a statement sent to Al-Jazeera television, a group calling itself "Islamic Response," said Monday that Hassoun was safe at an undisclosed location. The statement also claimed Hassoun had promised not to return to the American military.


"We pray that the news of his safe release is true," Tarek Nosseir, a family spokesman, said Monday. "If he is still in captivity, we remind the captors of the saying of our beloved prophet: Be merciful to those on earth, mercy will descend upon you from heaven."


Hassoun, educated at American schools in his native Lebanon before moving to the Salt Lake City area, was serving his second stint in Iraq.


His father, Ali Hassoun, who also lives in Tripoli, repeatedly has pleaded for his son's release. He and his other sons have contacted politicians and Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamist groups in Iraq in hopes of securing the Marine's release.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040706/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_iraq_missing_marine&cid=540&ncid=716


Ellie


I'm so confused......

[Namvet67]

I knew something wasn't right from the get go. He has made it to the ex-Marine status alright. He should have joined the Army or Air Force. I don't like bad press about my Corps. Semper Fi

[yellowwing]

Iraqi Group Threatens to Kill Al-Zarqawi
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, Associated Press Writer (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040706/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A group of armed, masked Iraqi men threatened Tuesday to kill Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi if he did not immediately leave the country, accusing him of murdering innocent Iraqis and defiling the Muslim religion.

The threats revealed the deep anger many Iraqis, including insurgent groups, feel toward foreign fighters, whom many consider as illegitimate a presence here as the 160,000 U.S. and other coalition troops.

In a videotape sent to the al-Arabiya television station, a group calling itself the "Salvation Movement," questioned how al-Zarqawi could use Islam to justify the killing of innocent civilians, the targeting of government officials and the kidnapping and beheading of foreigners.

"He must leave Iraq immediately, he and his followers and everyone who gives shelter to him and his criminal actions," said a man on the video.

The video marked the first time that an Iraqi group made such a public threat against al-Zarqawi...

It's about freakin time!

[cjwright90]

Finally! I hope our boys over there hear this. It could be a motivation factor for them. Now they need to do the same for Sadr.

[Toby M]

I read the same thing a few minutes ago regarding al-Zarqawi. If it is true, this has to be a huge victory for the American people-not to mention the Iraqi's. They are fnally beginning to see who is on their side and who isn't! As I said on a previous post, who do your trust?

[thedrifter]

Kidnapping frustrates Marines <br />
<br />
BY MATTHEW MCALLESTER <br />
STAFF CORRESPONDENT <br />
<br />
July 6, 2004 <br />
<br />
<br />
CAMP ABU GHARAB, Iraq -- &quot;Leave no one behind&quot; is a credo of the U.S. Marine Corps. It's pounded into...

[yellowwing]

"Would someone go in and get him?" he asked, rhetorically. "Absofrigginglutely."

Semper Fi

[snipowsky]

Yeah it's about damn time!

I hope they get Al-Zarqawi and behead his ass!