Posted on 07/06/2004 6:30:37 AM PDT by TexKat
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Lebanese-born U.S. marine is alive and free after having been thought to have been decapitated by his captors in Iraq, the hostage's brother said on Tuesday.
Wassef Ali Hassoun's brother Sami, speaking from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, said his family had received word Hassoun was alive and had been released in the early hours of Tuesday, but declined to specify the source of the information.
"We got solid assurances that my brother is alive and was released today," he told reporters.
There has been confusion in the last several days about Hassoun's fate, with statements on Web sites attributed to one Islamist group saying he had been decapitated, then that he was still alive.
The Islamic Response Movement said late on Monday that Hassoun had been moved to "safety" after pledging to leave the military.
Hassoun's family in Lebanon had appealed to his captors to have mercy on him as an Arab and a Muslim, and called on an Iraqi religious group which has negotiated the release of hostages seized by Islamists in Iraq to help free him.
The U.S. military has confirmed that Hassoun went missing from his unit but declined comment on media reports that he had been lured away from his base in Iraq after a romance with an Arab woman.
Is there any chance this young man is a mole?
Hrmmm...
I've heard he was a pretty good troop. He was a linguist. He watched as one of his sergeants was blown in two. He was mentally unstable afterwards, and I feel for him, yet there are different routes to take other than desertion when trying to get over something like that. Thousands of us saw things over there that most people could not handle, but you simply have to deal with it. Our job is to look evil in the eyes and deal with it.
Drudge has a link to The Guardian which specifically states that Hassoun defected to his captors side in this war.
Welcome home and thank you for your service.
I had a feeling he'd be turning up. If he used his background to free himself, more power to him. If he's unstable, God help him. If he's a traitor, Hell take him.
I just hope Maupin is alive.
Please read the article, but most especially, the comments section on www.jihadwatch.org pertaining to this story. Note the excerpts from the Koran regarding muslims and the infidel military. Perhaps it is time to rethink some positions...
I propose the last...
Maupin was not a muslim...
You're right. Nevertheless, I hold out hope that Maupin will return to Batvaia, OH and live a long, happy life.
he can suffer the rest of his days in Lebonon or some such Midddle Eastern country.....the poor living conditions, the violence, the hatred....
people are dying to live in this country...crossing rivers and oceans just to get a chance at what we have here....
if he is a traitor, then he can kiss American life goodbye, and live in a two by two house with a dozen cousins in Lebonon.....
but, he will probably show up in England or France or Canada...
its one thing to be a traitor for your cause, quite another to have to actually live among your fellow fanatics....
That might interest BOTH his reported wife and kids in Lebanon AND his girlfriend (since last December) in Oceanside CA.
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