IRAQ Latest developments

DEATH TOLL: As of Friday, 858 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 636 died as a result of hostile action and 222 died of non-hostile causes. The military did not provide an update over the holiday weekend.
Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 720 U.S. soldiers have died .
ABDUCTED MARINE: The family of a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine held hostage in Iraq said it was confident Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun had been freed and was well, though relatives have not heard directly from him, his brother said today. "We have received reliable information the guy is free," Sami Hassoun told The Associated Press from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where the Marine has family.
Although he had not spoken with his brother, who was serving as a translator with the U.S. Marines in Iraq when he went missing June 20, Sami Hassoun said, "We received a sign from my brother reassuring us."
Source: Associated Press
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