Islamic militants claim to have taken a US marine hostage in Iraq and are threatening to behead him, al-Jazeera television has reported.
Footage aired on the channel showed a blindfolded man dressed in camouflage and holding a US marine ID card.
The card said the man's name was Wassef Ali Hassoun and he was on active duty.
The US military has confirmed that a marine by that name has been missing in Iraq since 21 June, but it is not clear if it is the same man as in the tape.
'Lured outside'
Islamist groups have falsely used military ID cards in the past to claim that they have taken US soldiers hostage
Al-Jazeera said the man was of Pakistani origin, whereas the US military says the missing soldier, a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, is of Lebanese descent.
"Naval Criminal Investigative Services cannot confirm that Cpl Wassef Ali Hassoun has been taken hostage," the US military said in a statement.
Al-Jazeera said the group called itself Islamic Response, the security wing of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, referring to the uprising against the British after World War I.
The group said it would will kill the man if Iraqi prisoners are not released.
The militants claim they were able to abduct the man after infiltrating a US military camp and then luring him outside.
String of abductions
Earlier news of another kidnapping in Iraq emerged when al-Arabiya TV broadcast a video from an unidentified group of militants claiming to have taken a Pakistani driver hostage.
The tape showed a man holding an ID card from US contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root, which provides support to the US military.
This man was taken after an attack on a US base in Balad," one of the three masked gunmen on the tape said.
"You must release our prisoners held near the US base in Balad, in Dujail, in Yethrib, in Samarra and near Abu Ghraib. You have three days from the date of this recording and after that we will behead him. We have warned you," he added.
The prisoner could also be seen urging Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to close Pakistan's embassy in Iraq.
Pakistani officials were checking the report.
"We are trying to find out the details," Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told AFP news agency.
"We are not sure if he is a Pakistani... Our embassy in Iraq is taking the necessary action," he said.
On Saturday, in another video broadcast by al-Jazeera, suspected supporters of al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said they had taken three Turkish men captive in Iraq.
They threatened to behead the men unless all Turkish firms withdrew from Iraq within 72 hours.
Turkey has rejected the demand.
Zarqawi's movement has already claimed responsibility for the beheading of two other hostages captured in Iraq - US man Nick Berg and South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il.
BBC News
None of you right wing freak extremists believed that unjustifiably attacking Iraq would rile up terrorists all the more.
"Ah-huh-huh, hard hand, uh-duh force with force, uh these savages only understand violence, uh-huh."
Thanks to dumbya's obsession with Iraq if anything terrorism is a greater threat now.
How could we have wasted all this time and money rather than putting our full efforts into hunting down Bin Laden and the Al Quida, it's shameful.
"Ah-huh-huh, hard hand, uh-duh force with force, uh these savages only understand violence, uh-huh."
Thanks to dumbya's obsession with Iraq if anything terrorism is a greater threat now.
How could we have wasted all this time and money rather than putting our full efforts into hunting down Bin Laden and the Al Quida, it's shameful.
"Terrorism is at an all-time thanks to Bush mishandling the Iraq war. The religious nut sheep don't see that because all they see is the sheep's ass in front of them."
All-time what? High I guess we can assume you meant if we've been watching the news lately.
By "religious nut sheep" are you talking about the moral mayority or what?
All-time what? High I guess we can assume you meant if we've been watching the news lately.
By "religious nut sheep" are you talking about the moral mayority or what?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Oren1:
posted by Patriot:
"Just keep in mind that this is the same pedigree that killed 3000 innocent civilians on 9/11."
um, wasn't the final tally closer to 2,000? dude, GET A CLUE.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Does it make a difference?
posted by Patriot:
"Just keep in mind that this is the same pedigree that killed 3000 innocent civilians on 9/11."
um, wasn't the final tally closer to 2,000? dude, GET A CLUE.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Does it make a difference?
Terrorism is a greater threat now? Last I checked there hasn't been one terrorist act in this country since 911.
Oren the number was over 3000. You need to get a clue because even if the number was 2000 that is 2000 tooo many.
Time to finish the war against radical islam.
Oren the number was over 3000. You need to get a clue because even if the number was 2000 that is 2000 tooo many.
Time to finish the war against radical islam.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kenny B.:
Terrorism is a greater threat now? Last I checked there hasn't been one terrorist act in this country since 911.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Since 9/11...
...your country is on a virtual war footing.
You have 140,000 troops in-country, which is not enough, and now your reserves are being called up.
You have hundreds of dead and thousands of injured.
There is no prospect of an exit for the US and theres no way the rest of us are touching Iraq with a flipping pole.
Plus the surrounding Islamic countries know that if Iraq is stabilised, you'll invade them too,(Like Syria and Iran) so insurgents and kit are piling into Iraq to keep the place destabilised.
You don't have a terrorist problem any more.
You have a war.
Iraq is the crucible where Islam is fighting to survive.
And yet just over a year ago, under Saddam, Iraq was a secular state.
Talk about making a complete arse of it...
(Don't forget to thank George in November btw.)
[This message was edited by eek on June 30, 2004 at 11:15 PM.]
Terrorism is a greater threat now? Last I checked there hasn't been one terrorist act in this country since 911.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Since 9/11...
...your country is on a virtual war footing.
You have 140,000 troops in-country, which is not enough, and now your reserves are being called up.
You have hundreds of dead and thousands of injured.
There is no prospect of an exit for the US and theres no way the rest of us are touching Iraq with a flipping pole.
Plus the surrounding Islamic countries know that if Iraq is stabilised, you'll invade them too,(Like Syria and Iran) so insurgents and kit are piling into Iraq to keep the place destabilised.
You don't have a terrorist problem any more.
You have a war.
Iraq is the crucible where Islam is fighting to survive.
And yet just over a year ago, under Saddam, Iraq was a secular state.
Talk about making a complete arse of it...
(Don't forget to thank George in November btw.)
[This message was edited by eek on June 30, 2004 at 11:15 PM.]
Iraq Group Says It Beheaded Abducted U.S. Marine
(Reuters)
DUBAI -- The militant group the Army of Ansar al-Sunna said in an Internet statement that it had beheaded a U.S. marine kidnapped in Iraq and was holding another "infidel" hostage.
"We tell your leadership that we beheaded the marine of Lebanese origin Hassoun and you will see the film with your own eyes soon," said the Arabic-language statement, which was carried on at least two Islamic Web sites on Saturday.
Arabic television Al Jazeera last Sunday screened a video tape of militants holding a blindfolded Wassef Ali Hassoun with a sword poised over his head. They demanded the release of prisoners in Iraq.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, which was addressed to President Bush and advised him to withdraw his troops from Iraq.
"Your soldier had romantic relations with an Arab girl and he was lured away from his base," the statement said.
"And we will soon issue a new tape showing a new infidel hostage," it said without giving the nationality of the hostage.
The U.S. military has said that Hassoun had been absent from his unit since June 21, but could not confirm he had been abducted.
(Reuters)
DUBAI -- The militant group the Army of Ansar al-Sunna said in an Internet statement that it had beheaded a U.S. marine kidnapped in Iraq and was holding another "infidel" hostage.
"We tell your leadership that we beheaded the marine of Lebanese origin Hassoun and you will see the film with your own eyes soon," said the Arabic-language statement, which was carried on at least two Islamic Web sites on Saturday.
Arabic television Al Jazeera last Sunday screened a video tape of militants holding a blindfolded Wassef Ali Hassoun with a sword poised over his head. They demanded the release of prisoners in Iraq.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, which was addressed to President Bush and advised him to withdraw his troops from Iraq.
"Your soldier had romantic relations with an Arab girl and he was lured away from his base," the statement said.
"And we will soon issue a new tape showing a new infidel hostage," it said without giving the nationality of the hostage.
The U.S. military has said that Hassoun had been absent from his unit since June 21, but could not confirm he had been abducted.
I wonder how long the American public can stand for this kind of barbarism, regardless of one's feelings of Bush or the invasion, before calling for a full-on attack like we saw during the first weeks of the war. Extreme right-wingers already feel the US has been too soft against Iraq's insurgency ... I doubt the mainstream will be too far behind if many more Americans (among others) die this way.
Um, we tried that back in April, also known as "the deadliest month since hostilities began."
All the retards were chanting Fallujah delende est and pretending they had the slightest idea what they were saying or why, and we went in there and kicked some serious infidel ass, which is why three weeks after we pulled out we negotiated a truce with al-Sadr rather than show his dead body on CNN á la Oday and Qusay.
Anyway. Just tried that. Doubt it will work this time either.
Phaedrus
All the retards were chanting Fallujah delende est and pretending they had the slightest idea what they were saying or why, and we went in there and kicked some serious infidel ass, which is why three weeks after we pulled out we negotiated a truce with al-Sadr rather than show his dead body on CNN á la Oday and Qusay.
Anyway. Just tried that. Doubt it will work this time either.
Phaedrus
Iraqi militant group denies beheading Marine
Status of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun unclear after conflicting reports
(Associated Press)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Islamic extremist group denied in a statement posted on its Web site Sunday that it had killed a U.S. Marine taken hostage last month.
The denial by the Ansar al-Sunna Army left the fate of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun unclear. The group said it had no connection to a statement in its name put out on other Web sites claiming Hassoun’s slaying — leaving open the possibility that the Marine was killed by another group or that he was still alive.
A Lebanese foreign ministry official in Beirut said Hassoun, a U.S. Marine of Lebanese heritage, was believed to be dead.
Lebanon’s chief of mission in Baghdad “is trying to confirm the killing 100 percent, but it seems to be over,” the official told The Associated Press. “We understand that he was slaughtered. God help him.”
The U.S. military in Baghdad said it was checking into the report of the 24-year-old Hassoun’s death but had no confirmation. On Sunday the military said Hassoun’s status remains “captured.”
The Ansar al-Sunna Army issued Sunday’s statement in response to reports by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry that the group killed Hassoun.
"No Basis in Truth"
“The media have published, quoting the Lebanese foreign ministry, that the Ansar al-Sunna Army has killed the American hostage, from Lebanese origin, who was kidnapped in Iraq,” the statement said.
“In order to maintain our credibility in all issues we declare that this statement that was attributed to us has no basis of truth,” the statement said.
“We have an official Web site for publication, any statement that is not issued through our site, doesn’t represent us,” it said.
The statement did not say whether Ansar al-Sunna is the group that snatched Hassoun.
The claim that he was beheaded, posted on other Web sites on Saturday, was issued in the name of “the Ansar al-Sunna Army in Qaim,” a town near the Iraqi border with Syria that has seen frequent clashes with militants.
It was signed by Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud, a previously unknown figure labeled as “the prince” of the group.
The original claim of having kidnapped Hassoun — in a video aired last week on Al-Jazeera television, showing the blindfolded Marine with a sword brandished over his head — was issued in the name of “Islamic Response,” the security wing of the “National Islamic Resistance - 1920 Revolution Brigades,” rather than the Ansar al-Sunna Army.
Family's Anxious Wait
In Lebanon, Hassoun’s brother, Sami, said the family had no confirmation the Marine was killed.
“We have no information at all. All that we are doing now is looking at the Internet and watching television stations. We don’t know anything more,” the brother told AP by telephone from the northern city of Tripoli, where some of Hassoun’s relatives live.
Hassoun’s relatives in Utah have been in seclusion since the report of his death was issued Saturday. A telephone message left early Sunday morning at the Utah home of Hassoun’s brother, Mohammed Hassoun, was not immediately returned.
Status of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun unclear after conflicting reports
(Associated Press)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Islamic extremist group denied in a statement posted on its Web site Sunday that it had killed a U.S. Marine taken hostage last month.
The denial by the Ansar al-Sunna Army left the fate of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun unclear. The group said it had no connection to a statement in its name put out on other Web sites claiming Hassoun’s slaying — leaving open the possibility that the Marine was killed by another group or that he was still alive.
A Lebanese foreign ministry official in Beirut said Hassoun, a U.S. Marine of Lebanese heritage, was believed to be dead.
Lebanon’s chief of mission in Baghdad “is trying to confirm the killing 100 percent, but it seems to be over,” the official told The Associated Press. “We understand that he was slaughtered. God help him.”
The U.S. military in Baghdad said it was checking into the report of the 24-year-old Hassoun’s death but had no confirmation. On Sunday the military said Hassoun’s status remains “captured.”
The Ansar al-Sunna Army issued Sunday’s statement in response to reports by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry that the group killed Hassoun.
"No Basis in Truth"
“The media have published, quoting the Lebanese foreign ministry, that the Ansar al-Sunna Army has killed the American hostage, from Lebanese origin, who was kidnapped in Iraq,” the statement said.
“In order to maintain our credibility in all issues we declare that this statement that was attributed to us has no basis of truth,” the statement said.
“We have an official Web site for publication, any statement that is not issued through our site, doesn’t represent us,” it said.
The statement did not say whether Ansar al-Sunna is the group that snatched Hassoun.
The claim that he was beheaded, posted on other Web sites on Saturday, was issued in the name of “the Ansar al-Sunna Army in Qaim,” a town near the Iraqi border with Syria that has seen frequent clashes with militants.
It was signed by Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud, a previously unknown figure labeled as “the prince” of the group.
The original claim of having kidnapped Hassoun — in a video aired last week on Al-Jazeera television, showing the blindfolded Marine with a sword brandished over his head — was issued in the name of “Islamic Response,” the security wing of the “National Islamic Resistance - 1920 Revolution Brigades,” rather than the Ansar al-Sunna Army.
Family's Anxious Wait
In Lebanon, Hassoun’s brother, Sami, said the family had no confirmation the Marine was killed.
“We have no information at all. All that we are doing now is looking at the Internet and watching television stations. We don’t know anything more,” the brother told AP by telephone from the northern city of Tripoli, where some of Hassoun’s relatives live.
Hassoun’s relatives in Utah have been in seclusion since the report of his death was issued Saturday. A telephone message left early Sunday morning at the Utah home of Hassoun’s brother, Mohammed Hassoun, was not immediately returned.
Missing Marine at U.S. Embassy in Lebanon
Probe into whether disappearance a hoax
A photo of U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun is held by his father Ali Hassoun at his home in north Lebanon.
(NBC News/MSNBC)
WASHINGTON - Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, who went missing in Iraq more than two weeks ago, has surfaced and is now at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, the Pentagon and State Department said Thursday.
He was said to be in good health and the State Department said he was talking with U.S. officials.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Hassoun made contact with U.S. officials and arranged a meeting place. “We went to pick him up and brought him back to the embassy,” he said.
Earlier a Marine spokesman confirmed an NBC News report that the Navy is investigating whether Hassoun’s disappearance might be part of a kidnapping hoax.
“It would be fair to say they’re not ruling that out,” said Maj. Nat Fahy, adding that the investigation by the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service is still being treated as missing person investigation.
Contradictory Reports
Hassoun's case has seen several contradictory reports. A Lebanese Foreign Ministry source had said Hassoun was with his parents in northern Lebanon. But journalists gathered outside the family’s home saw no sign of Hassoun.
And an Iraqi militant group said Monday it was holding the 24-year-old Muslim in a safe place but hadn’t killed him. On Saturday, a statement posted on a Web site said Hassoun had been beheaded.
Relatives in West Jordan, Utah, said Tuesday that they had had word that he had been released and was safe, but they didn’t know where.
The Marines said Hassoun disappeared June 20 on “unauthorized leave,” but changed his status to “captured” after he turned up June 27 on television blindfolded with a sword hanging over his head.
In Lebanon, meanwhile, a gunbattle erupted Thursday in the port city Tripoli between members of Hassoun’s clan and people accusing them of being American collaborators. Two people were killed, but they were not members of the Hassoun clan, which numbers over 1,000 people.
Pledge Not to Return to Military?
On Tuesday, a Lebanese government source said Hassoun had been released, but his whereabouts were unknown. The source said the kidnappers freed Hassoun after he pledged not to return to the U.S. military.
Some media reports have said Hassoun, who was educated at American schools in Lebanon and then moved to Utah where he joined the Marines, fled his military camp near the restive Iraqi city of Fallujah after seeing one of his colleagues killed by a mortar shell, while others indicated he was lured out and captured.
Some of those claiming to be the captors have said he was romantically involved with an Arab woman and was lured away from his base. There also were reports that he might have been trying to get to Lebanon when he was captured.
Syrian Connection?
On Tuesday, Sami Hassoun, an elder brother, told AP that someone visited the family in northern Lebanon and told them his brother was free and well.
For Hassoun to make his way to Lebanon from Iraq, about 500 miles away, he would have to travel by land through Syria, which borders Iraq’s western Anbar province, where Hassoun’s unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, is based. Hassoun worked as a translator.
The United States has accused Syria of not doing enough to prevent militants from infiltrating its border to Iraq to fight U.S. and allied forces.
Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon, where it keeps thousands of troops. There are no direct flights from Lebanon to Iraq and another possible route, through U.S.-allied Jordan, is unlikely because he could end up with the Americans.
Filipino, Egyptian Reportedly Abducted
In the Philippines, meanwhile, the government on Thursday banned Filipinos from traveling to Iraq after militants threatened to kill a Filipino hostage if his country does not withdraw from Iraq.
A man identified as Hafidh Amer, a Filipino contract worker in Iraq, was shown Wednesday in this videotape from Al-Jazeera television.
A video broadcast Wednesday by Al-Jazeera television showed three armed and masked men standing behind the seated hostage, identified as Hafidh Amer, and threatening to kill him if the Philippines doesn’t pull out within three days. It did not give any details of his capture, but the group claimed to have killed an Iraqi guarding him.
Fifty-one Philippines soldiers and police are part of the multinational force in Iraq. In addition, about 4,100 Filipinos work in U.S. military bases in Iraq as cooks, mechanics or in other jobs. President Gloria Macapagal offered government help for any workers who wanted to come home.
The Philippines special envoy to the Mideast, Roy Cimatu, said the troops’ “tour of duty will end toward the end of the month. We will come up with a recommendation shortly whether we will extend their tour of duty.”
Earlier, Al-Jazeera showed videotape it identified as that of an Egyptian man who it said had been delivering gasoline to the U.S. military.
The unnamed group said it represented the “legitimate Iraqi resistance.” Its videotape showed four armed men standing behind the seated hostage, who was identified as Sayed Mohammed Sayed al-Arabawi.
Al-Jazeera said al-Arabawi was seized while driving a gasoline truck from Saudi Arabia, but it did not give any details about the group’s demands. The Egyptian Embassy in Baghdad said it had no information about the hostage.
Probe into whether disappearance a hoax
A photo of U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun is held by his father Ali Hassoun at his home in north Lebanon.
(NBC News/MSNBC)
WASHINGTON - Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, who went missing in Iraq more than two weeks ago, has surfaced and is now at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, the Pentagon and State Department said Thursday.
He was said to be in good health and the State Department said he was talking with U.S. officials.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Hassoun made contact with U.S. officials and arranged a meeting place. “We went to pick him up and brought him back to the embassy,” he said.
Earlier a Marine spokesman confirmed an NBC News report that the Navy is investigating whether Hassoun’s disappearance might be part of a kidnapping hoax.
“It would be fair to say they’re not ruling that out,” said Maj. Nat Fahy, adding that the investigation by the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service is still being treated as missing person investigation.
Contradictory Reports
Hassoun's case has seen several contradictory reports. A Lebanese Foreign Ministry source had said Hassoun was with his parents in northern Lebanon. But journalists gathered outside the family’s home saw no sign of Hassoun.
And an Iraqi militant group said Monday it was holding the 24-year-old Muslim in a safe place but hadn’t killed him. On Saturday, a statement posted on a Web site said Hassoun had been beheaded.
Relatives in West Jordan, Utah, said Tuesday that they had had word that he had been released and was safe, but they didn’t know where.
The Marines said Hassoun disappeared June 20 on “unauthorized leave,” but changed his status to “captured” after he turned up June 27 on television blindfolded with a sword hanging over his head.
In Lebanon, meanwhile, a gunbattle erupted Thursday in the port city Tripoli between members of Hassoun’s clan and people accusing them of being American collaborators. Two people were killed, but they were not members of the Hassoun clan, which numbers over 1,000 people.
Pledge Not to Return to Military?
On Tuesday, a Lebanese government source said Hassoun had been released, but his whereabouts were unknown. The source said the kidnappers freed Hassoun after he pledged not to return to the U.S. military.
Some media reports have said Hassoun, who was educated at American schools in Lebanon and then moved to Utah where he joined the Marines, fled his military camp near the restive Iraqi city of Fallujah after seeing one of his colleagues killed by a mortar shell, while others indicated he was lured out and captured.
Some of those claiming to be the captors have said he was romantically involved with an Arab woman and was lured away from his base. There also were reports that he might have been trying to get to Lebanon when he was captured.
Syrian Connection?
On Tuesday, Sami Hassoun, an elder brother, told AP that someone visited the family in northern Lebanon and told them his brother was free and well.
For Hassoun to make his way to Lebanon from Iraq, about 500 miles away, he would have to travel by land through Syria, which borders Iraq’s western Anbar province, where Hassoun’s unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, is based. Hassoun worked as a translator.
The United States has accused Syria of not doing enough to prevent militants from infiltrating its border to Iraq to fight U.S. and allied forces.
Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon, where it keeps thousands of troops. There are no direct flights from Lebanon to Iraq and another possible route, through U.S.-allied Jordan, is unlikely because he could end up with the Americans.
Filipino, Egyptian Reportedly Abducted
In the Philippines, meanwhile, the government on Thursday banned Filipinos from traveling to Iraq after militants threatened to kill a Filipino hostage if his country does not withdraw from Iraq.
A man identified as Hafidh Amer, a Filipino contract worker in Iraq, was shown Wednesday in this videotape from Al-Jazeera television.
A video broadcast Wednesday by Al-Jazeera television showed three armed and masked men standing behind the seated hostage, identified as Hafidh Amer, and threatening to kill him if the Philippines doesn’t pull out within three days. It did not give any details of his capture, but the group claimed to have killed an Iraqi guarding him.
Fifty-one Philippines soldiers and police are part of the multinational force in Iraq. In addition, about 4,100 Filipinos work in U.S. military bases in Iraq as cooks, mechanics or in other jobs. President Gloria Macapagal offered government help for any workers who wanted to come home.
The Philippines special envoy to the Mideast, Roy Cimatu, said the troops’ “tour of duty will end toward the end of the month. We will come up with a recommendation shortly whether we will extend their tour of duty.”
Earlier, Al-Jazeera showed videotape it identified as that of an Egyptian man who it said had been delivering gasoline to the U.S. military.
The unnamed group said it represented the “legitimate Iraqi resistance.” Its videotape showed four armed men standing behind the seated hostage, who was identified as Sayed Mohammed Sayed al-Arabawi.
Al-Jazeera said al-Arabawi was seized while driving a gasoline truck from Saudi Arabia, but it did not give any details about the group’s demands. The Egyptian Embassy in Baghdad said it had no information about the hostage.
