Moroccan soldier keeps bride waiting 24 years

After 24 years of engagement, a Moroccan soldier named Abderrahim has married his bride. But he had an excuse - he was in jail deep in the Sahara desert.

"I was convinced she'd wait for me," Abderrahim told 2M state TV, which did not disclose his last name.

Separatist guerrillas captured Abderrahim in 1979 during a war for control of the Western Sahara territory, and freed him with 300 of the 900 remaining prisoners in November.

Abderrahim rushed home to wed his intended, Bahia, who knew he had been captured but had had no news of him for six years.

"I knew he'd come back one day," she said. "I never showed pain but hid it deep in my heart."