I did not desert, insists US marine

Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, the Marine who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while on duty in Iraq, has insisted that he was captured by insurgents and that he is still a loyal Marine.

“I did not desert my post,” he told reporters yesterday outside Quantico Marine Corps Base. “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.”