The Ansar al-Sunna militant group issued a statement on its web site on Sunday, denying reports that it had killed a US Marine soldier who was taken as a hostage in Iraq last month.

"The media, quoting the Lebanese foreign ministry, said that the Ansar al-Sunna Army has executed the American hostage, who is of Lebanese origin, kidnapped in Iraq," said the statement.

"This statement that attributed to us has no basis in truth...we have an official Web site and any statement issued by other web sites doesn't represent us," it claimed.

A statement posted on Islamic Web sites on Saturday in the name of Ansar al-Sunna announced that the group had beheaded Wassef Ali Hassoun, the US Marine of Lebanese descent,.

Pan-Arab satellite TV al-Jazeera reported on June 27 that Iraqi militants had allegedly kidnapped Hassoun and threatened to behead him unless Iraqi prisoners are released.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2004)