A US marine who turned up in Lebanon after disappearing from Iraq has been charged with desertion. The US military spent five months investigating the case of Cpl Wassef Ali Hassoun, who vanished from a US military camp near Falluja in June. A military spokesman said Cpl Hassoun was charged with taking unauthorised leave, loss of government property and theft of a military pistol. Cpl Hassoun said he had been kidnapped by insurgents and held hostage. The charges will now be considered by an investigating officer to determine whether Cpl Hassoun will face a military court. The marine has not been arrested and will continue performing normal duties at the Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, spokesman Maj Matt Morgan said.
The Lebanese-born marine appeared on Arabic television blindfolded and with a sword held above his head, but in July he walked into the US embassy in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. "I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days," Cpl Wassef Ali Hassoun said. "I did not desert my post," he told reporters in July. The marine's disappearance was mired in confusion - and at one point he was reported to have been beheaded by his Islamist captors. It is unclear how he was able to get from Iraq to Lebanon. He would have had to travel 800km (500 miles), much of it across Syrian territory. Cpl Hassoun was born in Lebanon, educated at American schools there and then joined the US marines after moving to Utah four years ago. The 24-year-old is fluent in Arabic, French and English and was serving as a translator in his second stint in Iraq at the time of his disappearance. | This always did smell funny. If he had been captured, I'm sure he would have been killed. I remember something about a girl being involved, luring him off base. Guess we'll have to wait for the court martial. |
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