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Relatives in Utah and Lebanon say they have no clue about the location, and mind-set, of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, the Utah Marine who was charged with deserting his post in Iraq last year and who was again declared a deserter Wednesday.
Hassoun, who spent a week with his family in West Jordan on holiday leave, was to report back for motor pool duty at Camp Lejeune, N.C., by noon Tuesday. By 3 p.m. Wednesday, his whereabouts still unknown, Hassoun's command authorized civil authorities to catch and return him to military control.
Unconfirmed reports placed Hassoun, 24, en route to his native Lebanon by way of Canada. Family members in Utah say Hassoun left Salt Lake City on Dec. 28 on a direct flight to North Carolina. They last heard from him Dec. 29, when Hassoun told them he had been rerouted to Washington, D.C., because of bad weather that snarled holiday traffic.
Hassoun, facing a possible court-martial on counts of desertion and theft, was to appear next week at Camp Lejeune for the military's version of a grand jury on the charges. The judge would decide whether to recommend a court-martial. The theft charges carry a penalty of 10 years in prison and the desertion count five years; if Hassoun were to be convicted of wartime desertion, he could face life in prison.
During his leave, Hassoun seemed "upbeat" and determined to "fight it out," Hassoun family spokesman Tarek Nossier said Wednesday. "He really wanted to stand his ground and prove he was doing his job."
Moments later, Nossier told The Tribune, "If we were deceived, then so be it."
A relative contacted at Hassoun's parents home in Tripoli, Lebanon, said the family had not spoken with Hassoun for a couple weeks. "I thought he was in America," she said. "He was on vacation at his [Utah] house. I don't know anything about it except that."
The first hearing, called an Article 32, convened Dec. 21 but was postponed when Hassoun decided he wanted to hire a civilian lawyer to assist his military attorneys. As of last week, Hassoun had not hired counsel, according to his eldest brother, Mohamad.
It had been expected that a Marine counterintelligence officer would testify that Hassoun worked as a Arabic translator for Human Exploitation Team 9, said Maj. Matt Morgan of Camp Lejeune's Marine 4th Expeditionary Brigade, antiterrorism unit, at the time.
If so, it would clarify Hassoun's role in Iraq, where he has been described as a translator and truck driver. The intelligence unit's job is to blend in with Iraqi citizens and and keep sensitive information about the Marine post from leaking to hostile Iraqis.
Hassoun, a Muslim, could be seen as a natural for such work. He was on his second tour in Iraq when he failed to report for duty at his Marine camp near Fallujah on June 20 and was declared a deserter. His status was changed to captured after an Arab television network aired a video in which Hassoun appeared, blindfolded and with a curved sword held about his head. Reports that he had been executed were followed by others saying he was alive and "in a safe place."
On July 8, Hassoun surfaced in Beirut, Lebanon, 500 miles from Fallujah and, potentially, after a difficult journey through Syria. How he got from Iraq to Lebanon remains a mystery, although after his return to the United States, Hassoun publicly insisted he had been kidnapped and pledged his fidelity to the Marine Corps.
Hassoun returned to his motor pool duties at Camp Lejeune in September. Later that month he terminated his final interview with Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents shortly after being read his rights under military law.
In November, U.S. soldiers reportedly found Hassoun's uniform, military ID and civilian passport in a building in Fallujah, considered a bastion for violent insurgents.
On Dec. 9, Hassoun was charged with desertion and theft of his 9 mm service weapon and a Humvee, but was not taken into custody. Morgan said Hassoun had returned promptly from two earlier, lengthy leaves in Utah and was not considered a flight risk.
CNN, quoting unidentified Marine Corps sources, reported Wednesday that a trail of ATM records and tickets show Hassoun traveled from Utah to Canada, then booked a flight to Lebanon. However, Morgan said Hassoun did not have a passport when he was returned to the United States, and had been issued a temporary document that he surrendered upon his arrival.
Nossier, the family spokesman, said that if Hassoun indeed left the United States, Interpol would find him. A search of the international police organization's Web site showed no listing for Hassoun as a wanted fugitive. Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
Contacted at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, where Hassoun was taken in July, public affairs officer Juliet Wurr said the defense attache had released no information about Hassoun. A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said names on the watch list cannot be revealed.
Morgan said the military's information about Hassoun has been entered into the National Crime Information Center.
"When an individual is considered a fugitive or wanted someplace, that would pop up there," he said. "So this is one of the best ways we have getting information out to all law enforcement authorities that he is wanted by the armed services."
Sgt. Rosie Rivera of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office said the agency had not received any alerts.
Meanwhile, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which has investigated Hassoun since last summer, has opened another investigation to determine his whereabouts.
Several of the Hassoun family's West Jordan neighbors refused to jump to conclusions. Rob Grimstad said he hopes Hassoun didn't desert, but if he did, it would cast a bad light on the Marine.
"I would give [the Hassouns] the benefit of the doubt just because they're really good people," he said.
A man identifying himself as Hassoun's brother, Mazen, said in West Jordan the news Hassoun never arrived at Camp Lejeune "doesn't make sense to us. . . . Of course we're worried."
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Tribune reporters Robert Gehrke and Justin Hill contributed to this story.
Time Line:
* Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun* Hassoun vanishes from his base near Fallujah, Iraq, on June 20.
* He surfaces in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 8, and is eventually returned to his home base, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
* Hassoun is charged Dec. 9 with desertion and theft of his 9 mm service weapon and a Humvee, as well as loss of government property.
* On Wednesday, the Marine Corps declares Hassoun is a deserter after he failed to return to Camp Lejeune on Tuesday after his holiday leave in West Jordan.