A Utah Marine, already charged with deserting his post in Iraq, was branded a deserter once again Wednesday afternoon by U.S. Marine Corps officials who said Wassef Ali Hassoun failed to return to duty after holiday leave.

Hassoun, instead of returning to Camp Lejune, N.C., apparently traveled to Canada then on to Lebanon, his birthplace, Pentagon authorities told NBC television Wednesday night.

However, Marine spokesman Maj. Matthew Morgan said the Marine Corps had not received confirmation to validate Hassoun's flight to Lebanon as of Wednesday night. He added that the Corps will be working with the FBI and the State Department to determine his whereabouts.

Also, it is likely that the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, which had investigated Hassoun's original desertion, will likely be brought back into the matter, he said.

Extradition will be left up to the State Department, he added. The United States has no formal extradition treaty with Lebanon, according to the department's Web site.

KSL-TV reported Hassoun may be headed to Lebanon to meet up with his brother, who is also believed to be there avoiding extradition. Court documents show that last January, Sami Hassoun was charged with using a false Social Security number.

According to those documents, Sami Hassoun never showed up in court to face those charges but instead returned to Lebanon, KSL reported.

Morgan said a notice to arrest Wassef Hassoun has been posted on the National Crime Information Center's database through the FBI. The database is used by nearly all law enforcement agencies across the United States to identify individuals who are wanted for law violations.

The news of Hassoun's latest disappearance comes just days before he was to face an evidentiary hearing at Camp LeJeune on charges of theft and desertion. Hassoun appeared in Camp LeJeune on Dec. 21, in what was expected to be the first of a three-day hearing, but the hearing was postponed after Hassoun requested time to secure a civilian defense attorney. The court postponed the hearing until Jan. 13.

Hassoun faces a possible maximum penalty of 10 years to life in prison for his June 19 disappearance from a Marine base in the Al Anbar province near Fallujah. A five-month investigation concluded that Hassoun left with his 9 mm military service pistol in a stolen Humvee.

On June 27, Hassoun appeared in a grainy video blindfolded with a sword held over his head on the Al-Jazeera Arabic television network. Hassoun's apparent capture sparked a small movement in Utah, where his brother and family live in West Jordan, in which people held vigils and offered prayers for Hassoun's safe return.