RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A U.S. Marine who vanished from his unit in Iraq and later wound up in Lebanon for eight years will face trial on desertion and other charges, the military said Friday.
Maj. Gen. William D. Beydler has referred 34-year-old Cpl. Wassef Hassoun for a general court-martial on charges of desertion, larceny and destruction of government property, according to a news release from the Marines. No date has been set for Hassoun’s trial at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where he is being held.
The case began in June 2004, when Hassoun disappeared from a base in Fallujah, Iraq. About a week later, he appeared in a photo purportedly taken by insurgents. Hassoun was blindfolded and had a sword poised above his head.
Hassoun, a naturalized American citizen who was born and grew up in Lebanon, turned up days later at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon saying he was kidnapped by extremists.
But the military doubted his story, and he was brought back to the U.S. while charges were considered. He was allowed to visit relatives in Utah in December 2004 when he disappeared again – eventually winding up back in Lebanon.