SALT LAKE CITY - A Lebanese newspaper says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is seeking extradition of missing Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun and four other men.

The Daily Star says Rice made the request during her visit to Lebanon last week. In a story posted on its Web site, the newspaper says persistent requests for the men had been denied.

However, it quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the refusal was not final and the request was under study.

Hassoun was facing desertion charges from an earlier disappearance when he failed to arrive at Camp Lejeune by January fifth, 2005, and was again declared a deserter.

Hassoun, an Arabic translator, first disappeared from Camp Fallujah in June 2004. Al-Jazeera Television showed video of Hassoun blindfolded, with a sword above his head. He surfaced a month later in Lebanon, claiming he had been kidnapped.

An investigation by the Navy concluded that Hassoun stole a Humvee and fled his camp near Fallujah.(AP)