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Brother Says Missing Marine in Iraq Freed
If itâs true, it should be an interesting debrief.The family of a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine held hostage in Iraq 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." Hi, guys. My headâs still attached. 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. Hassounâs alleged captors have claimed he was romantically involved with an Arab woman and was lured away from his Marine base and captured. Hassounâs family in Tripoli and in Utah have had their hopes dashed and raised with conflicting information about the Marineâs 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. The Marines might have something to say about that. "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." ...and heâs not an INFIDEL! 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 sonâs release. He and his other sons have contacted politicians and Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamist groups in Iraq in hopes of securing the Marineâs release. Posted by: tu3031 2004-07-06 |
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