|
Iraq group says US marine hostage moved to 'safety'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-06 09:29 An Iraqi Islamist group said it had moved an
abducted U.S. marine to "safety" on Monday after he pledged to leave the
military, raising hopes for the fate of a man who had previously been reported
as beheaded.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera television said the announcement came in a statement
from the Islamic Response Movement, the same group it reported on June 27 as
claiming to have abducted Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun and threatening to kill
him.
Relatives in Lebanon of Lebanese-born Hassoun said the same statement had
been faxed to them.
In Mosul,
protesters - shown in this photo - denounce the Iraqi tribunal, which set
out charges against Saddam Hussein, on July 4, 2004.
[Reuters]
| Battling militants blamed for
kidnappings and bombings, the U.S. military launched an air strike on what it
said was an Islamic guerrilla safe house in the Iraqi city of Falluja, killing
at least five people. Neighbors said they were members of a family with no
connections to extremist groups.
A chilling video tape, obtained by Time Magazine and given to Reuters, showed
foreign Muslim militants saying farewell to their loved ones before climbing
into vehicles and blowing themselves up in operations across Iraq.
In one attack, a suicide bomber named as Abu Harith al-Dosari climbs into a
big fuel truck and points to a electric cord that he will use to detonate a
large bomb. Footage then shows him driving to Baghdad's Kathimiya bridge, where
the truck explodes into huge balls of fire.
The U.S. military and Iraqi officials have said for months that foreign
fighters have played a major role in bombings and shootings, but have produced
little real evidence. Kidnappings have also spread fear, helping to destabilize
the country.
PLEA FOR MERCY
The Islamic Response Movement did not say where the abducted Hassoun had been
taken, only that he had been moved to a "place of safety," Al Jazeera said.
A television image
aired by Al Jazeera on June 27, 2004 shows a blindfolded man dressed in
camouflage believed to be US Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun sitting in a
chair with a hand holding a sword above his head. A militant group said on
July 3, 2004, it had beheaded U.S. Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun after
kidnapping him in Iraq and was holding another "infidel" hostage.
[Reuters] | "At this point we are uncertain of the
destiny of our brother, our friend Wassef," family friend and spokesman Tarek
Nosseir said in a statement to reporters outside the family's Utah home.
"If he is still in captivity, we remind the captors of the saying of our
beloved prophet; 'Be merciful to those on earth. Mercy will descend on you from
heaven."'
It was the first statement for days from Hassoun's Utah relatives, who have
remained in their home in West Jordan, outside Salt Lake City, since news of the
abduction broke.
The family has declined all comment on media reports that Hassoun had
deserted the U.S. military or that he had been lured away from his base in Iraq
after a romance with an Arab woman.
Reports of Hassoun's fate conflicted wildly over the weekend after statements
posted on Islamist Web sites attributed to another Islamist group -- the Army of
Ansar al-Sunna -- said he had been decapitated, then that he was still alive.
Eight days ago Al Jazeera showed a brief video of a blindfolded man dressed
in camouflage sitting in a chair with a hand holding a sword above his head. The
U.S. military says Hassoun has been absent from his unit since June 21.
AIRSTRIKE
Hospital sources said at least five people were killed and seven wounded when
a U.S. plane fired a missile at a house in Falluja, listing women and children
as among the victims. Some local residents said the death toll may have been
higher.
Residents dug into rubble in search of more bodies after the attack, which
followed a string of air strikes targeting what the U.S. army describes as safe
houses used by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who Washington accuses of al
Qaeda links.
"They talk about terrorists, but these are just families," said a man
belonging to an angry crowd of residents who gathered at the lip of a large
crater gouged by the blast.
Iraq's interim government has pledged to crack down on militants, but Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi canceled a news conference on new security laws at short
notice. The government had earlier planned to unveil the legislation on
Saturday.
Despite the delays, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the government
would soon introduce the security law, reinstate the death penalty and offer a
temporary amnesty to insurgents. The death penalty could apply to Saddam Hussein
and 11 of his lieutenants if they are convicted by a special tribunal.
An Iraqi civilian was killed and four were wounded in the southern city of
Basra when mortar rounds fired by guerrillas at the main government building hit
nearby homes instead.
Two Iraqi civilians were killed and four wounded by gunfire outside the
southern city of Kerbala when a convoy carrying troops from a U.S.-led
multinational force escaped a bomb attack and then opened fire, a hospital
official said.
In other violence, guerrillas fired at a U.S. military medical helicopter,
wounding the pilot and co-pilot, a military spokesman said, although the
aircraft landed safely.
In the northern city of Sulaimaniya, security forces foiled an attempted
suicide car bomb attack when security forces shot dead two men driving a car
laden with explosives, local television reported.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
