Family shocked at claim of Lebanese-born Marine's killing

WEST JORDAN — Relatives of U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun were in seclusion Saturday after an Iraqi militant group claimed on a Web site that it had beheaded him.

Hassoun's brother, Mohammad Hassoun, declined to comment on the claim when reached at his home.

Shuaib-Ud Din, the imam at Khadeeja mosque in nearby West Valley City, met with family members for about 15 minutes at the home, where the yard had been decorated in recent days by about two dozen flags put up by Boy Scouts.

Later at a news conference at the mosque, the imam said the Hassouns were praying and awaiting official word of Wassef Hassoun's fate. He cautioned the public against automatically believing reports out of the Middle East.

"Every family has a different way of dealing with the crisis. This family prefers less attention," Shuaib-Ud Din said. "They don't like the media outlets to be pounding on their door. They would like some privacy."

Shuaib-Ud Din said it was more important to remember that Hassoun is a Marine taken captive than that he is a Muslim. "What faith are the captors, what faith is Ali Hassoun is less important," he said.

West Jordan city leaders said they planned to ask for a moment of silence for the Hassoun family Saturday night at the town's annual Fourth of July celebration.

On June 27, the Arab television station Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded, along with a statement from militants threatening to kill him unless the United States releases all Iraqis in "occupation jails."

Family members said he was born in Lebanon, was educated at American schools there and then joined the Marines after moving to the Salt Lake City area. The military said earlier in the week that Hassoun had gone on an unauthorized absence and may have wanted to head to Lebanon when he was captured.

The 24-year-old Hassoun, fluent in Arabic, French and English, was serving the Marines as a translator in his second stint in Iraq when he was captured.

Hassoun's father, Ali Hassoun, who lives in Tripoli, repeatedly pleaded for his son's release, saying he was not involved in the fight against Iraqi resistance groups. He and his other sons had contacted politicians and Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Islamist groups in Iraq in hopes of securing the Marine's release.

"I appeal to the kidnappers and to their conscience and faith to release my son. He is not a fighter," he said.