BAGHDAD (AFP) - A US marine held hostage in Iraq was released yesterday, according to a statement purportedly from an Islamic militant group received by the Arab television channel Al-Jazeera.

The statement, attributed to the Islamic Retaliation Movement - Armed Resistance Wing, which had previously threatened to behead Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, said the Lebanese-born marine was "taken to a safe place," without specifying the location.

"Hassoun promised not to go back to the US army," the statement added.

The US marines said they had no news of Hassoun's release and were still listing him as captured.

"We're not going to comment on what Al-Jazeera is saying," said Lieutenant Colonel TV Johnson.
"When we have more information on his status, which is proven, we'll release it."

On Sunday, the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sunna group denied a statement issued in its name and posted on the Internet a day earlier saying it had executed Hassoun.

The US Marines confirmed on Wednesday that Hassoun went missing on June 21 after Al-Jazeera broadcast a tape from the Islamic Retaliation Movement showing a blindfolded
Hassoun with a sword over his head.

At the time, the group threatened to decapitate him unless all prisoners were released in Iraq within 72 hours.

Hassoun's family, which is from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, has issued a passionate appeal through Al-Jazeera and other media for the release of the 24 year-old marine.

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