Terrorists threaten to slay Utahn

WEST JORDAN — Stunned and grieving family members tried to cope with the news Sunday that Wassef Hassoun, a Marine corporal, had been kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq who were threatening to behead him.

Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news outlet, posted a view on its Web site of the kidnapped Marine and reported that a group called "The Islamic Retaliation Movement/Armed Resistance Wing" was threatening to behead Hassoun "if detainees in U.S.-led occupation prisons were not freed."

They said they had captured him after infiltrating a U.S. military base in Iraq, according to Al-Jazeera.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Douglas Powell told the Deseret Morning News that "a Marine assigned to the First Marine Expeditionary Force had been absent from his unit since June 21. Contrary to press reports, however, naval criminal investigative services cannot confirm that Cpl. Wassef Hassoun has been taken hostage."

In the photo, the blindfolded Marine is shown with a hand behind him holding a sword.

Throughout Sunday afternoon, friends and family of Hassoun gathered in the home of his brother, Mohammed Hassoun.

They first heard of the kidnapping on Sunday from the media and then were in contact with the Pentagon, said West Jordan Police Capt. Gary Cox.

Imam Shuaib-Ud Din of the Khadeeja Mosque in West Valley City said Wassef Hassoun's brother, Mohammed Hassoun, is on the mosque board. When he spoke with the Hassoun family, Din said the family had not heard from any military official by late Sunday afternoon. "All they know is what everyone else knows or has seen on CNN," he said.

Cox, who said the family was from Lebanon, spoke with them in the home. He reported that family members and friends had only one request for the media: Go away.

As Cox addressed an impromptu press conference before reporters camped out in the street in front of the home, a member of the Islamic Society of Utah, Tarek Nosseir, was inside meeting with the family.

Hours after the drama began, Nosseir emerged with a statement from the family. Cox said he is a family friend and spokesperson.

Nosseir began by invoking "the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate." He continued, "We accept destiny with its good and its bad. We pray and we plead for his safe release. And we ask all people of the world to join us in our prayers. May God bless us all."

The mood inside, Cox said, was "quite somber. They're obviously concerned" for the safety of the young man and about their own privacy.

Neighbors said they believe several brothers live in the home, but it was unclear whether or not Cpl. Hassoun ever lived there. For a time, one man from the home sat cross-legged on the back-yard grass smoking and wiping his eyes.

Neighbor Pamela Kay said, "They're a quiet family." Her husband, Preston, said they are "just really nice people."

"The men are quiet and keep to themselves, but the women are friendly," Pamela Kay added. She said the men were friendly, too, but kept more to themselves.

Preston Kay said there are some small children and the adults seem very protective of them.

When the newspaper telephoned the home, a man answered and said, "I cannot deny or confirm or tell you anything. Thank you." Then he hung up.

West Jordan Mayor Bryan Holladay said he expects his community will rally behind the Hassoun family as they deal with difficult times ahead.

"We appreciate any young man serving our country," Holladay told the Deseret Morning News, "and the fact that he's put his life at risk to protect the people of Iraq and our country. We just hope it turns out for the best."

Judy Hassoun, Wassef's former sister-in-law, said by telephone from Bacliff, Texas, that Hassoun is serving his second stint in Iraq. She did not know he was missing.

"He was the best natured," she said. He studied hard and "always wanted to get good grades. He helped everybody. He helped his mother a lot."

Judy Hassoun said she had recently received a letter from a cousin and had been afraid to open it, fearful of the news it might contain. "I did open it. It was just a letter."

"I pray for all of them over there. I've got a grandson in the Air Force. We are a military family. All my children have been in the service," she said. She said Wassef moved to the Salt Lake area and joined the Marines after moving there.

An image from a video broadcast by the Al-Jazeera network shows a man identified as Wassef Ali Hassoun, a Marine corporal.
Associated Press

West Jordan Police Capt. Garry Cox gives a statement to the media at the Mohammed Hassoun home.

Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News

In the photo, the blindfolded Marine is shown with a hand behind him holding a sword.

I'm afraid, he was probably killed right after they made that video. Has there ever been a video taken in these circumstances where the captive survived??? I don't think so.

They said they had captured him after infiltrating a U.S. military base in Iraq, according to Al-Jazeera.

I pray for the man, but my mind toys with the possibility that he may have decided to try to help the terrorists and that they took him up on it in order to get more political weight with his killing. Hell of a reward, isn't it? I pray that I'm wrong and that God has mercy on him regardless.

Yeah - I'm with you. I don't see them infiltrating any military base, really, but especially not a Marine base, where they seem to be a little more aware of force protection..........

This was taken from Hal Linseys web site..... Osama bin Laden, with his group of "holy warriors" who had come from many Muslim communities around the world, issued a "fatwa." A "fatwa"; is a legally binding interpretation of the Quran for a contemporary issue written by an Islamic scholar. Part of Osama's fatwa – dated February 1998 – proclaimed:
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [in Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim.
This is in accordance with the words of Almighty Allah "and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together," and "fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah.";
Yes, they probably have already killed him, this is what they do, there is no reasoning with them, this is who and what they are...haters of all that aren't Muslim.

I don't believe this story. This muslim marine was missing since June 21. Supposedly came to the U.S. before 9/11, sans his wife and kid still in Lebanon. Supposedly, he was so affected by 9/11 that he joined the military right after. I dunno, the kids living here in America were not so affected by 9/11 to join up, why should I believe this recent immigrant was? Remember the other "muslim hostage" reported on Fox News over a month ago? Family crying crocodile tears on TV over this innocent muslim hostage. U.S. government never knew anything about it and the story was dropped within days.

Terrorists infiltrating the marine base and "stealing" this guy away? What nonsense. Don't believe everything that is being rammed down our throats. This story is stinky. What's the deal with the blindfolds? Why are some hostages blindfolded and others are not? Code? Just curious....

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