Missing Marine arrives at US Beirut embassy

By NAZIH SIDDIQ

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese-born US Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun, reported at one stage to have been beheaded by militants after disappearing in Iraq, was safe at the US embassy in Beirut Thursday, US officials said.

The 24-year-old corporal had been picked up in Beirut after getting in touch with US officials, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

"We were able to go get him this morning," Boucher told reporters in Washington. "He made contact with us."

He was accompanied by family members, an embassy spokeswoman said.

"He appears to be healthy. We're working through the details of what the next steps are," a Pentagon official said.

In another twist to the story, at least two people were killed and several wounded when a gunbattle erupted between Hassoun's relatives and another family in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, witnesses said.

The other family had taunted Hassoun's relatives by referring to them and the Marine as US agents, said witnesses.

The area is a stronghold of deeply religious Sunni Muslims with strong clan ties. Blood feuds among rival families are not uncommon.

Hassoun joined the US military after emigrating to the United States from Lebanon four years ago.

Statements on internet sites used by Islamists said he had been taken hostage and then beheaded, but his family -- who urged his captors to spare him as an Arab and Muslim -- said this week he had been released and was safe.

Hassoun was taken to the heavily fortified US complex in the hills overlooking Beirut's coast. "Wassef is at the US embassy," Abdelhamid Hassoun told reporters.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq