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WASHINGTON - Utah Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun insisted Monday that he fell victim to anti-coalition insurgents and did not engineer his disappearance from Camp Fallujah in Iraq.
I did not desert my post, Hassoun said in his first public statement since he resurfaced. I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days.
Hassoun disappeared from the base in Iraq on June 20. Later, the Arab network Al Jazeera broadcast a video of a blindfolded man identified as Hassoun with a sword held over his head. Then a false report on the Web site of a militant group said Hassoun had been killed.
But on July 8, Hassoun showed up at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Questions surfaced about whether he had been kidnapped from the base in Iraq or had walked away.
Hassoun, 24, asked for the opportunity to provide his version of events after he arrived in the United States last week. He delivered the short statement to reporters and photographers gathered outside the gates of the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia but took no questions and left quickly, donning his camouflage baseball cap and departing in a red van.
Lt. Col. David Lapan, a spokesman for the Marine II Expeditionary Force, of which Hassoun is a member, said an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service into Hassoun's disappearance is under way and that the Corps is not able to back up Hassoun's statement.
We're not in the position at this point to make a judgment either way, Lapan said. We're supporting our young Marine in bringing him back from a very harrowing ordeal.
Naval investigators have not yet met with Hassoun, Lapan said, but may have gathered other evidence.
If Hassoun was in fact abducted, the question remains how insurgents whisked the Marine away without creating a disturbance in one of the most secure, tightly guarded outposts in Iraq. Hassoun's absence was reported only after he failed to report for early morning duty. It is also unclear how he traveled from Iraq to Lebanon.
Once he begins meeting with the investigators, Hassoun will be entitled to an attorney and the interviews will be more interrogatory, said Capt. Jeff Landis, a Marine Corps spokesman at Quantico.
Hassoun's brother, Mohammed, who lives in West Jordan, Utah, arrived at Quantico on Friday evening and spent the weekend at the Virginia military base, the spokesman said.
Within the next few days, Hassoun's repatriation is expected to shift again to Camp Lejeune, N.C., headquarters of the II Expeditionary Force. There, Hassoun will continue his treatment with his brother by his side. A family member told The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday that other close relatives who live in Tripoli, Lebanon are making plans to come to the U.S. to visit Hassoun.
So far, what we've seen here at Quantico has been positive, which is why we feel comfortable that he's ready to return to Camp Lejeune, Lapan said.
Hassoun is near the end of Phase 4 of the military's repatriation program, which involves reuniting the soldier with family. Camp Lejeune has on-base housing available for Hassoun's family.
"It's our own 'hospitality inn,' said Lejeune media chief Sgt. Spencer Harris. "It's real cheap."
The military takes great care in arranging family reunions for returned POWs and others released from captivity, and the news media aren't usually invited.
"Reuniting the returnee with family members and other loved ones is an important and delicate matter," according to Depart- ment of Defense repatriation guidelines. It "should involve minimal additional stress for the returnee and family members."
The final step of repatriation is to deem him fit to return to action, Landis said.
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Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun's statement:
Good afternoon. In the name of God, I am glad to be home and thank you all for your prayers and support.
I understand that there are many questions . . . and respectfully ask that the media respect my need to spend some private time with my family.
I did not desert my post. I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days.
This was a very difficult and challenging time for me. Since my release, I have been fully participating in the repatriation process.
I thank everyone who was looking for me and give thanks to God for everything.
I would like to tell all the Marines as well as all those others serving in Iraq to keep their heads up and spirits high.
Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper fi.
Thank you.
Reporters Linda Fantin and Derek Jensen contributed to this story.