This still image broadcast by Al-Jazeera television showed Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, said to have been decapitated in Iraq. Photo by AFP
The militant group the Army of Ansar al-Sunna considered to be close to Al-Qaeda, claimed it has decapitated a US marine taken hostage in Iraq.
The statement posted on an Islamic website said "We tell your leadership that we beheaded the marine of Lebanese origin Hassoun and you will see the film with your own eyes soon."
Arabic television Al Jazeera last Sunday screened a videotape of militants holding a blindfolded Wassef Ali Hassoun. The insurgents threatened to behead the US Marine and a Pakistani driver they had kidnapped unless the Americans release all Iraqis in "occupation jails."
The US military has said that Hassoun had been absent from his unit since June 21, but could not confirm he had been abducted.