Created: 7/3/2004 2:22:02 PM 
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- An Iraqi militant group claimed on a Web site Saturday that it has beheaded a captive U.S. Marine. The group, called the Ansar al-Sunna Army, posted a written statement on an Islamic web site claiming that it had killed Lebanese-born Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun. "We would like to inform you that the Marine of Lebanese descent has been killed, and you will soon see the movie with your own eyes," said the statement, signed in the name of the group's leader, Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud. The U.S. military in Baghdad said they were checking into the report of Hassoun's death but had no comment or confirmation at this time. On June 27, pan-Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded and militants threatening to kill him unless the United States releases all Iraqis in "occupation jails." Hassoun, from West Jordan, Utah, was last seen about a week before the videotape was broadcast, the military said. Ansar al-Sunna Army has previously claimed responsibility for Feb. 1 suicide attacks on two Kurdish political party offices in Irbil that killed 109 people. At the time, U.S. military officials said it could be an offshoot of the northern Iraq-based militant group Ansar al-Islam.
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