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Marine Charged With Desertion Goes Missing
RALEIGH, N.C. — Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, the Marine who was once thought kidnapped in Iraq only to be charged later with desertion, has disappeared, Marine officials announced Wednesday. | I don't think the "taken hostage" ploy will work this time. |
Hassoun had been on leave with his family in West Jordan, Utah, when he was scheduled to return to Camp Lejeune on Tuesday, military officials said. Hassoun's family said they do not know his whereabouts and the military is notifying civilian law enforcement of his fugitive status. Officials listed Hassoun as a deserter Wednesday. | They can do both trials at the same time. |
He was charged in December with desertion following a five-month probe into his June disappearance from a U.S. military camp in Iraq. The 24-year-old Utah resident went missing June 20, 2004, from his base in Fallujah. A few days later a videotape of him blindfolded and with a sword hanging over his head aired on Arab television, prompting fears he had been taken hostage by terrorists. A group claiming to have taken Hassoun said he had been kidnapped after being lured from the base by a love affair. But in a bizarre twist, Hassoun turned up unharmed on July 8 at the U.S. Embassy in his native Lebanon. It was unclear how he had gotten there.
Posted by: Steve 2005-01-05 |
