CNN: Family Reports US Marine Is Free And Safe

From Alan at Command Post:

CNN TV just broke with this … has the Marine’s brother on TV, saying they have a “sign†that they can’t discuss, but that Sami Hassoun is “free and safe.†They don’t know where he is, but the family is saying “he is alive and he has been released.†The brother is in Tripoli, Lebanon at the moment.

CNN.com – BREAKING NEWS: American Marine Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, held hostage in Iraq, has been freed, his brother tells CNN. Details soon.

UPDATE: CNN — Brother: Captors have released kidnapped Marine

The brother of an American Marine who had been taken hostage in Iraq asserted Tuesday that his brother, Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, has been freed. Sami Hassoun, speaking to CNN from Tripoli, Lebanon, said there is clear “sign” that his brother is “alive” and has been “released.” However, Sami Hassoun would not elaborate on where he got his information or what specifically the sign was from his brother.

He said earlier reports that Cpl. Hassoun was beheaded in an execution was a shock, and the family gave each other comfort and prayed. “As soon as the first tape aired on [Arabic-language network] Al-Jazeera TV, we were shocked,” Sami Hassoun said. “It was like a never-ending nightmare. “He’s alive and he’s released and thank God for that. The sign came to us, we are sure of it.”

One can only imagine their nightmare. Let’s hope that the sign s are real.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.