Marine Back in U.S. After Disappearance

A U.S. Marine who disappeared in Iraq and turned up in Lebanon three weeks later arrived at a Marine Corps base here Thursday after six days of evaluation at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, a military official said.

Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun would remain in a “repatriation” process until he was determined to be fit and capable of returning to duty. The process could take from weeks to months, Lapan said.

Hassoun made no statement but was seen in videotape provided by the Marine Corps arriving at Quantico, smiling and looking fit in a camouflage uniform as he got off the plane.

The Marine Corps said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was looking into whether Hassoun was abducted by militants in Iraq, whether the abduction was a hoax or whether Hassoun had deserted. He also was expected to be questioned by intelligence officials.

After Hassoun’s disappearance last month from his unit in Iraq, he was seen in a videotape blindfolded with a sword poised over his head. A militant group later claimed to have beheaded him. But Hassoun showed up July 8 at the U.S. Embassy in the Lebanese capital.

As Hassoun left the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on Wednesday, he said he was eager to get home.

“I am in good health and spirits, I look forward to my return home to friends and family,” he said in a written statement, his first public comment since he vanished in late June from his base near Fallouja.

It remains unclear how Hassoun traveled from Iraq to his native Lebanon, where he has relatives.