Trial Postponed for U.S.-Lebanese Marine who Vanished in Iraq 

A judge has delayed the trial of a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine accused of deserting his unit a decade ago in Iraq and later winding up in Lebanon.

Camp Lejeune spokesman Lt. Col. Cliff Gilmore said Thursday that a military judge granted a defense request to delay Cpl. Wassef Hassoun's case until February.

A court martial had been scheduled to start next week on charges of desertion, larceny and destruction of government property.

The case began in 2004 when Hassoun disappeared from a base in Iraq.

He turned up days later at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, saying he'd been kidnapped by insurgents. After a brief return to the U.S., he vanished again and wound up in Lebanon again.

A military report acknowledges that the case against Hassoun is largely circumstantial.

Translated Lebanese government documents provided to the court say Hassoun was arrested in 2005 by Lebanese authorities after Interpol issued a bulletin triggered by his status as a deserter. The documents say Lebanese authorities released him but took his passport and prevented him from traveling.

The documents indicate that Lebanese officials declined to extradite Hassoun and he was eventually fined for theft of military tools — a charge that mirrors the U.S. larceny count.