US Marine taken hostage in Iraq (Reuters) Updated: 2004-06-28 07:54
A television image aired by Al Jazeera June
27, 2004 shows a blindfolded man dressed in camouflage sitting in a chair
with a hand holding a sword above his head. A Marine Corps identity card
named him as Wassef Ali Hassoun and Jazeera said he was of Pakistani
origin. Al Jazeera television said a group calling itself the Islamic
Response Movement, the security wing of the "1920 Revolution Brigades",
had kidnapped the U.S. Marine after luring him from a U.S. base. Militants
have kidnapped a U.S. Marine and a Pakistani driver in Iraq and are
threatening to behead them unless Iraqi prisoners are freed, Arab
television reported on Sunday. [Reuters]
A television image aired on Al Arabiya
television June 27, 2004 shows a Pakistani man, who had an identity card
given to contractors working for the U.S. military, urging Pakistani
Pervez Musharraf to shut down his country's embassy in Iraq. In the video
tape, unidentified gunmen said they had seized a Pakistani hostage near
Balad, north of Baghdad, and would kill him within three days unless Iraqi
prisoners were released from jail.Turkey and Pakistan are not part of the
U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq but many nationals work as drivers,
cooks, cleaners and support staff for U.S. troops.[Reuters]
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