Militant group denies it killed Marine

The U.S. military is unsure whether Hassoun is still alive.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Islamic militant group denied Sunday that it had killed Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, a day after statements attributed to the group on two Web sites said the U.S. Marine had been beheaded.
The Ansar al-Sunna Army said on its Web site that it had not issued the statements and that there was "no basis of truth" in the reports of Hassoun's death.
The group's response left unclear whether Hassoun, 24, was alive. U.S. military officials said they were checking into the claim of Hassoun's death but had no confirmation Sunday. Nor was it possible to confirm whether either announcement had been made officially by Ansar al-Sunna.
Hassoun, a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, disappeared June 19 from his unit in Iraq. A week later, the Arab satellite television network al-Jazeera aired a videotape of the Lebanese-born Marine, blindfolded and with a sword held over his neck, and a message from a group calling itself Islamic Response saying that it had captured Hassoun and threatening to kill him. It was unknown whether the group is connected to the Ansar al-Sunna Army.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry initially said its officials in Baghdad had made contact with people who had "indirect links" to the kidnappers, and that they had confirmed Hassoun's slaying. But the Foreign Ministry later said its announcement was "not official."
Quiet holiday
The confusion over Hassoun came on an American holiday that was otherwise relatively quiet in Iraq.
The 1st Armored Division, which has been in Iraq for 15 months, the longest tour of any American combat unit, began preparing to return home after an official ceremony in Baghdad.
The division, which has lost 135 soldiers and lists 1,100 wounded, has had as many as 36,000 troops in Iraq. It was scheduled to leave three months ago but its stay was extended. Military officials declined to specify the troop strength now.
"We have learned a lot about the price of freedom," the division commander, Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, said in an Independence Day speech. "People experiencing freedom for the first time may not understand how fragile it can be."
Cleric pledges to resist
Meanwhile, the militant Shiite cleric whose uprising last April left hundreds dead pledged Sunday to resist "oppression and occupation" and calling the new interim Iraqi government "illegitimate."
Muqtada al-Sadr made the declaration in a statement distributed by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where his al-Mahdi militia battled American troops until a cease-fire last month.
"We pledge to the Iraqi people and the world to continue resisting oppression and occupation to our last drop of blood," al-Sadr said. "Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished."
Previously, Al-Sadr had made conciliatory statements to the new government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a fellow Shiite, and members of his movement had suggested they might transform the al-Mahdi Army into a political party. Also, Al-Mahdi fighters accepted cease-fires in most Shiite areas after suffering huge losses at the hands of the Americans.
However, in his statement Sunday, the young cleric said, "There is no truce with the occupier and those who cooperate with it."
"We announce that the current government is illegitimate and illegal," al-Sadr said. "It's generally following the occupation. We demand complete sovereignty and independence by holding honest elections."
On June 12, al-Sadr issued a statement saying he was ready for a dialogue with the new government if it worked to end the U.S. military presence.
It was unclear what prompted his apparent reversal, though al-Sadr has made contradictory statements in the past. Earlier Sunday, Allawi told ABC's "This Week" that he had met with al-Sadr representatives "who want to try and mediate."
Violence
Elsewhere in Iraq, violence continued Sunday as Iraqi troops thwarted a car bombing outside their regional headquarters northeast of Baghdad, killing an attacker before he could detonate his vehicle. Two bystanders also died in the assault in Baqouba, the scene of fierce fighting last week between American soldiers and insurgents who tried to seize government buildings and police stations.
Iraqi officials have blamed foreign fighters and religious extremists for a wave of vehicle bombings in recent months. The attacks have led to fears that religious fanatics and Saddam Hussein loyalists may be joining forces to fight both the multinational force and the new Iraqi government.
Saboteurs also blew up part of a strategic crude oil pipeline that runs from the country's northern oil fields to the south, police officials said. Fire crews and police from at least three nearby cities worked into the night to extinguish the blaze near Musayyib, about 50 miles southwest of Baghdad. Pipelines in that area have been hit several times in the past few weeks.