This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah's Wassef Ali Hassoun, who vanished from his base in Iraq and turned up unharmed 19 days later, is back at the wheel of a Marine Corps truck.

Medical authorities at Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Tuesday cleared the 24-year-old corporal for full duty in a 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade motor pool, said brigade spokesman Maj. Matt Morgan.

Nearly three months after his apparent capture by Iraqi militants, Hassoun is once again "like any other Marine," Morgan said.

However, Hassoun was to meet Tuesday with an agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which has been looking into how, as Hassoun said, he was captured near the battleground of Fallujah and ultimately freed in Beirut, Lebanon.

NCIS agents have spoken to several people, Morgan said, but were waiting for the "right time" to talk to Hassoun, a Lebanese native who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, became a citizen and joined the Marines.

"Depending on how things go there, that will drive how long the investigation will continue," Morgan said.

Hassoun was on his second tour in Iraq when he did not report for duty June 20. Early on, some Marine officials speculated about a possible desertion, but the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera showed a photo of him blindfolded, with a sword held above his head.

A group called the National Islamic Resistance/1920 Revolution Brigade claimed to be holding him and was threatening to decapitate him unless detainees in ''U.S.-led occupation prisons'' were released, Al-Jazeera said.

Subsequent reports had him beheaded, then alive in a "safe place." Hassoun surfaced July 8 in Beirut and contacted the U.S. Embassy to pick him up.

From Beirut, Hassoun was taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for a medical evaluation, and then to Camp Lejeune.

Hassoun has denied he willingly left his base in Iraq and has pledged loyalty to the United States and the Marine Corps.

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the NCIS could recommend closing the case or pursuing charges, "or anything in between," Morgan said.

After a 30-day convalescent leave at his brother's home in West Jordan, Hassoun reported back to Camp Lejeune on Aug. 30.

Hassoun's brother, Mohamad Hassoun, said Tuesday that "it's great" that Hassoun is back on duty, adding that he hopes the investigation "will be closed soon."

During his time in Utah, Hassoun "seemed fine physically; and mentally, he's recouping. He's not 100 percent," his brother said.

---

Tribune reporter Derek Jensen and The Associated Press contributed to this story.