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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
An Air Force translator, Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, was arrested July 23 on charges of espionage and aiding the enemy by attempting to send intelligence, names and serial numbers of prisoners to Syria, and carrying a laptop computer with 180 classified notes for delivery to Syria.
"If it turns out that this guy is guilty, and it turns out that he was talking to Syria in some light, then that's an issue that the government will deal with at the time," General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.
But asked whether Syria was directly involved in spying at the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba, he said: "We do not know. We are looking at that."
In Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Ahmad al-Hassan called the charges "baseless and illogical."
"How could Syria have spies in Guantanamo? Is the CIA incapable of finding a trustworthy translator?" he said.
Halabi is one of two US soldiers detained in a widening espionage case involving the detention camp adjacent to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on the Communist island. An army chaplain is also being held.
Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that other US servicemen were under investigation as part of the probe.
The US indictment against al-Halabi charged that he attempted to deliver secret documents to a foreign citizen "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of Syria, a foreign nation."
The charges also said he failed to report contact with the Syrian embassy.
The indictment alleges he was heading for Syria around July 23 when he was arrested at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida on a flight from Guantanamo.
He had a laptop computer with over 180 electronic versions of notes and two handwritten notes from Guantanamo detainees with the intention of delivering them to a citizen of a foreign government, according to the indictment.
They included "writings relating to the national defense, which directly concerned intelligence gathering and planning for the United States' war against terrorists."
Among the secret documents, according to the indictment, were copies of:
-- information about the movements of military flights to and from the base
-- US Southern Command orders for the transfer of detainees to Guantanamo
-- an order for preparations for detainee transfers
-- classified cellblock information with cell numbers, serial numbers and names of detainees
-- an October 20, 2002 memorandum on a command inquiry
Other counts of the indictment charged Al Halabi with transferring classified information to an unauthorized computer and attempting to attach a personal laptop computer to a classified military computer.
His arrest, first disclosed on Tuesday, was followed on September 10 by that of an army chaplain at Guantanamo, Captain James Yee, on suspicion of espionage.
The 35-year-old Chinese-American, who received Islamic religious training in Syria during a break from military service, also was reported to have been found with classified documents.
Pentagon officials have said there is no direct link between the two cases so far, but the two men served at the facility during the same period and likely knew each other.
The arrests, and the hunt for spies, suggests the military fears its premier prison for suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters may have been more broadly compromised by moles.
"There has always been individuals who have got through screens and done bad things. There's also been people who go through a screen not intending to do bad things and arrive at some point later and decide that they gonna do bad things," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
"History can repeat itself. What would be the case in this sense, we don't know."
Added General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Anytime you have allegations like this, you look at your procedures and process. It is natural and normal."
Halabi is being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where a preliminary hearing was held September 15-18 into the charges against him, the air force said.
The Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury process, is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant court martial or some other legal proceeding.