Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun in Lebanon again?

During her visit to Lebanon late last week, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice asked Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to extradite five men wanted by the United States. Four of these men were member of Hezbullah, including terrorist bomber Imad Mugniniyah and the Mohammed Hammedah, the hijacker who murdered US Navy diver Robert Stetham. (Hammedah was recently released from prison in Germany as part of a deal to free a German hostage in Iraq.).

The fifth man whose extradition Rice requested was Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun. Hassoun is the Marine translator who disappeared from his unit in Baghdad, only to show up a few days later in a jihadi film on the internet. Shortly afterwards, a posting on the internet indicated Hassoun had been killed and beheaded by a group affiliated with Abu Mus’ab al Zarqawi.

But Hassoun appeared a few days later, alive and well, in Beirut, Lebanon, where he has family. Hassoun was repatriated to the US, and after several months of investigation, court martial proceedings were begun.

Hassoun was allowed to go home on leave over Thanksgiving, and disappeared on his return to base.

There has been much speculation as to where Hassoun went; many speculated that he may have returned to Iraq to join the terrorists there.

The request for his extradition is the first strong indication that we’ve had as to where Hassoun might currently be located. It is unlikely Secretary Rice would have requested that he be extradited if the administration did not have strong indications that he is currently in Lebanon.

Hassoun should have proved a gold mine of intelligence for the US military. At the very least, he should have been able to provide information as to the jihadi smuggling routes from Lebanon and Syria into Iraq.

Lebanon has so far refused the request for the extradition of the five men.