Friends and relatives of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun urged patience and prudence as they and well-wishers waited for some word as to the missing Marine's whereabouts.
Which is not to say family members were idle Wednesday as another news cycle unfolded, bringing with it more conflicting reports about the 24-year-old from West Jordan, who was captured in Iraq two weeks ago and threatened with decapitation.
CNN, citing an unidentified State Department source, said Hassoun was safe and with relatives in Lebanon. That followed a report from an unnamed source "close to the family" that Hassoun had called relatives in Utah and Lebanon and asked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to pick him up from an undisclosed location in Lebanon.
"That's a total lie," said Sami Hassoun, the Marine's older brother. "We have not had any direct call or any direct contact."
Speaking by phone from his father's home in Tripoli, Lebanon, Sami Hassoun told The Salt Lake Tribune his brother has not contacted any family members, although they believe he is alive and safe.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said officials there do not have any confirmation that the embassy was contacted by Hassoun. "We are fully aware of the reports and we are trying to ascertain his whereabouts," Elizabeth Wharton, embassy public affairs officer, told The Tribune. "We are following up to find out what is true and what isn't."
So, apparently, is the FBI, which sent two agents to the Hassoun family house in West Jordan on Wednesday, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is considering whether the entire episode is part of a kidnapping hoax.
Salt Lake Tribune article
Which is not to say family members were idle Wednesday as another news cycle unfolded, bringing with it more conflicting reports about the 24-year-old from West Jordan, who was captured in Iraq two weeks ago and threatened with decapitation.
CNN, citing an unidentified State Department source, said Hassoun was safe and with relatives in Lebanon. That followed a report from an unnamed source "close to the family" that Hassoun had called relatives in Utah and Lebanon and asked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to pick him up from an undisclosed location in Lebanon.
"That's a total lie," said Sami Hassoun, the Marine's older brother. "We have not had any direct call or any direct contact."
Speaking by phone from his father's home in Tripoli, Lebanon, Sami Hassoun told The Salt Lake Tribune his brother has not contacted any family members, although they believe he is alive and safe.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said officials there do not have any confirmation that the embassy was contacted by Hassoun. "We are fully aware of the reports and we are trying to ascertain his whereabouts," Elizabeth Wharton, embassy public affairs officer, told The Tribune. "We are following up to find out what is true and what isn't."
So, apparently, is the FBI, which sent two agents to the Hassoun family house in West Jordan on Wednesday, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is considering whether the entire episode is part of a kidnapping hoax.
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