Utah Marine in 'safe place'

WEST JORDAN — The terrifying capture and threatened beheading of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun grew even more mysterious Monday when a report circulated that he had been released and was pledging not to rejoin the U.S. military.

Soon after, the same outlet, al-Jazeera, posted another article that did not describe him as released but said Hassoun had been "sent . . . to a safe place" and had agreed not to rejoin the military.

No confirmation was available for the assertions, just as none surfaced proving he had been decapitated last week as claimed at that time.

"At this point, we are uncertain of the destiny of our brother, our son, our friend Wassef," said family spokesman Tarek Nosseir, reading a statement Monday afternoon in front of the Hassoun home in West Jordan.

"We pray that the news of his safe release is true. If he is still in captivity, we remind the captors of the saying of our beloved prophet," he said, referring to Mohammed. He then recited a saying in Arabic and translated it into English: "Be merciful to those on Earth and mercy will descend upon you from heaven."

Both Hassoun and his captors are Muslims.

Nosseir said the family renewed its request for all people of the world.

"Continue to pray for his safe release," he said. "We thank everyone for this continued outpouring of support and prayers. May God bless us all."

Nosseir declined to answer questions from the phalanx of media representatives.

Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news agency, has been the conduit for nearly all information, including contradictory reports, about Hassoun's condition.

Al-Jazeera said the information that Hassoun has been taken to a safe place was in a statement delivered to it by "a purported Iraqi resistance group" it identified as "Islamic Response," the security wing of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq. According to al-Jazeera, the group said it had sent the young man, "a U.S. Marine of Lebanese heritage, to a 'safe place' but without specifying the exact location."

The agency added that Islamic Response said Hassoun had announced he would not rejoin the U.S. military.

The Deseret Morning News was unable to get a response from the Marines concerning the latest development.

Al-Jazeera originally quoted a statement from "the Islamic Retaliation Movement/Armed Resistance Wing" on June 28 that said it had captured Hassoun and that he would be beheaded "if detainees in U.S.-led occupation prisons were not released."