Marine and Pakistani Held, Threatened with Beheading

There seemed to be great confusion among the news services about whether there was a Marine or a Pakistani or a Marine of Pakistani descent captured and being held under a threat of decapitation by so-called insurgents. Now it appears (sadly) that there is both a Marine and a Pakistani held:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Arab television broadcast videotape Sunday of two men taken hostage by militants, one described as a U.S. Marine lured from his base and the other a Pakistani driver for an American contractor. Insurgents threatened to behead them both.

Also, militants hit a coalition transport plane with small arms fire after takeoff from Baghdad's airport, killing an American passenger and forcing the aircraft to return. Turkey rejected demands by militants threatening to behead three Turkish hostages unless Turkish companies cease business with U.S. forces in Iraq.

Death threats against hostages as well as insurgent attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces have accelerated as Iraq's interim government prepares to assume sovereignty Wednesday.

The U.S. military confirmed that a Marine named Wassef Ali Hassoun had been missing from his unit for nearly a week. It said it was unclear if he had been taken hostage, but Hassoun's name was on a Marine ``active duty'' identification card shown by militants in the videotape aired by the Al-Jazeera network.

In the video, the hostage had a white blindfold covering his eyes. He wore military fatigues, and his mustache was trimmed. The U.S. military said Hassoun was of Lebanese descent, though the Al-Jazerra report said the hostage's origins were Pakistani.

This is in addition to the 3 Turks for whom time (the 72-hour deadline) is ticking down execution. And indications are that there may be considerably more: the confusion surround who is being held and by which group is high.