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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Militants Threaten to Behead Iraq Hostages | |
| 2004-06-28 | |
| EFL Insurgents threatened to behead a U.S. Marine and a Pakistani driver they had kidnapped unless the United States releases all Iraqis in "occupation jails," according to a videotape aired on Arab television. Turkey rejected demands by militants holding three Turkish hostages in a separate standoff. The family of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun confirmed that he was the kidnapped American Marine who appeared in a videotape shown Sunday. The U.S. military said Hassoun, a Muslim of Middle Eastern origin, had been missing from his unit for nearly a week. The kidnappers claimed to have infiltrated a Marine outpost, lured Hassoun outside and abducted him. Al-Jazeera said the militants demanded the release of all Iraqis "in occupation jails" or the hostage would be killed. They identified themselves as part of "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. The group, which has claimed responsibility for previous anti-American attacks, first surfaced in an Aug. 12 statement claiming the United States was hiding its casualty tolls in Iraq to help President Bush’s election chances. Hassoun’s family in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan asked people to join them in prayers. "We accept destiny with its good and bad," Hassoun family friend and spokesman Tarek Nosseir said in a brief statement Sunday to reporters. "We pray and plead for his safe release." Death threats against hostages as well as insurgent attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces accelerated ahead of Iraq’s return to self-rule on Monday. The transfer of sovereignty had been scheduled for Wednesday but the U.S.-led coalition speeded up the move by two days in an apparent bid to head off any attempts at sabotage. Earlier Sunday, the Pakistani driver was shown on a tape broadcast by a different Arab television station, Al-Arabiya. The hostage displayed an identification card issued by the U.S. firm Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company Halliburton.
In Istanbul, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul rejected demands by al-Zarqawi’s group for Turkish companies to quit doing business with U.S. troops in Iraq to spare the lives of the three Turkish hostages. "Turkey will not bow to pressure from terrorists," Gonul told the private CNN-Turk and TV8 television stations. The demand was issued as Bush and other Western leaders gathered in Turkey for a NATO summit Monday. Turkey, the only Muslim nation in NATO, was put in a difficult position trying to balance alliance solidarity with national interests. The U.S. mission in Iraq is deeply unpopular in Turkey, and it was feared that any killing of Turkish hostages could intensify anger against the United States. | |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #16 Prove himself the way Italians, Japanese did during WW2. How naive can you be? You should have realized by now exactly what kind of enemy we're dealing with. |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-06-28 5:25:29 PM |
| #15 "Speaking Arabic, he had more reason to go walking about himself, or was more cocky about doing so"...uh, I don't think so. He would have known better than anyone not to go on a "walkabout". Sister-in-law states how bright he is. I predict this one will either "disappear" or be released. Prove himself? Naaaaaaa |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-06-28 5:24:19 PM |
| #14 I'd say those jihadis have got themselves in a pickle. We will not negotiate. Thus they must either chop his head off or let him go. Either way they loose. Just feel really sorry for the bloke. |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-06-28 4:10:29 PM |
| #13 Regarding the Marine that was shown, Hugh Hewitt has posted an open letter to the terrorists from a retired Marine on his site. Indeed it mentions some historic precedent for what happens after Marines are beheaded by the enemy. I'd like to post it on Al-Jazeera. I don't suppose they have a comments section, do they? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-06-28 3:35:18 PM |
| #12 1. As per steves article, he was going AWOL to visit his relatives.. Sounds pretty damned naive at best, stupid at worst. If it were my parents' home country that was in Iraq's position and I was a Marine stationed there, I wouldn't trust the local population any further than I could throw them. My country, fellow Marines, and countrymen come first, my ethnicity a very distant second (assuming I had to assign a value to that trait). |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-28 2:49:22 PM |
| #11 But how is it that of ALL the hostages these guys could have taken, they happened to grab a devout muslim? 1. As per steves article, he was going AWOL to visit his relatives - the jihadis cant get that close to a Marine base. 2. Speaking Arabic, he had more reason to go walking about himself, or was more cocky about doing so. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-28 1:23:58 PM |
| #10 More info on the Marine here:Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the military is working under the assumption that the Marine has been kidnapped -- but he indicates that hasn't been confirmed. Kimmitt said the Marine had gone on an "unauthorized absence" around June 21 -- and that officials suspect he may have been heading to Lebanon. The general didn't give more details. The tape displayed a Marine identification card in the name of Wassef Ali Hassoun. The U.S. military said a corporal by that name had been missing from his unit in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force since June 21. Some of Ali Hassoun's relatives, including his father, Ali Hassoun, and a brother, Sami, are in Tripoli, Lebanon. The relatives said contacts were under way with politicians and Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamic groups in Iraq to secure the Marine's release.Judy Hassoun, Wassef Ali Hassoun's former sister-in-law, said by telephone from Bacliff, Texas, that Ali Hassoun is serving his second stint in Iraq. She hadn't known he was missing and had not seen him in about five years. She said he was born in Tripoli, educated at American schools in Lebanon and is fluent in Arabic and French. "He is a great student," she said. He is "very peaceful, but very brave, very loving."She said her former brother-in-law joined the Marines after moving to the Salt Lake City area. Her relatives, including her ex-husband, live in an upscale subdivision in West Jordan, a Salt Lake City suburb. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-06-28 1:20:02 PM |
| #9 I, too, will wait for all the facts. But how is it that of ALL the hostages these guys could have taken, they happened to grab a devout muslim? Apparently, the marines didn't suspect foul play, at first; they listed him as awol. not sure why. one theory: the guy went awol to help out the other side, but they would have none of that. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-06-28 1:14:40 PM |
| #8 Supposedly, this new visitor was so "touched" by 9/11, that he immediately signed up to be a Marine. kinda like the way lots of Italians, Japanese, etc signed up in WW2. theres such a thing as having something to prove. He is a muslim who regularly attends mosque each Friday. So? I'll await further clarification, but this seems at first glance like a big Jihadi mistake. I assume thats what BH is getting at. This would be front and center of our case that america supports muslims, muslims support America, but the evil jihadis are the enemy of american muslims, and indeed of all moderate muslims. All evidence is that Iraqis are growing disgusted at jihadi killing of muslim Iraqis - what will be their reaction when a muslim US Marine is killed? Yes, that would be the time to move on Fallujah. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-28 12:55:11 PM |
| #7 I wasn't trying to be a jerk or anything. Just a little fun, you see. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2004-06-28 12:11:43 PM |
| #6 hey, tuthirtythirtyone getting purdy good. :) |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-06-28 12:09:19 PM |
| #5 Yeah, I know. I also left in the obligatory "The hostage displayed an identification card issued by the U.S. firm Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company Halliburton." Can't have an Iraq story without that in it, right, Mucky? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-06-28 12:01:41 PM |
| #4 chris at least tu is not call them freedom fighters. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-06-28 11:59:20 AM |
| #3 I do not believe this Marine is a hostage. He disappeared June 21, and his background is veryyyyyyyyyy interesting. Came to the U.S. right before 9/11, left a wife and kid back in Lebanon. Supposedly, this new visitor was so "touched" by 9/11, that he immediately signed up to be a Marine. He is a muslim who regularly attends mosque each Friday. I don't believe for a minute that the terrorists "infiltrated" the marine base and took this guy. The whole story stinks.... Also, why is it that some hostages are blindfolded and others are not? Code? |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-06-28 11:56:13 AM |
| #2 If they behead that Marine, the ensuing sh*tstorm will become the stuff of legend for years to come. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-06-28 11:40:29 AM |
| #1 Hey tu3031: Don't be afraid to fix stoopid headlines: And now, back to your regularly scheduled Rantburg. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2004-06-28 11:30:49 AM |