Translator at Terror Suspect Prison Charged with Trying to Give Classified Material to Syria

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

(11:07 PM PT)

By Matt Kelley

Associated Press Writer

Secret documents Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi is accused of trying to pass to Syria include details of flights to and from the Guantanamo Bay base; names, serial numbers and cell numbers of prisoners; a map of the base; and other military documents. Al-Halabi is charged with eight counts related to espionage, three counts of aiding the enemy, 11 counts of disobeying a lawful order, nine counts of making a false official statement and one count of bank fraud. The bank fraud charge involves allegations al-Halabi used false information in credit card applications for several prominent banks.

WASHINGTON -- AP
An Air Force translator for suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp tried to send classified information about the prisoners to his native Syria, military authorities charge.

Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi is behind bars at a California Air Force base, facing 32 criminal charges. The most serious -- espionage and aiding the enemy -- could carry the death penalty.

Pentagon officials said a broader investigation into possible security breaches at the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba was continuing.

Military authorities accuse al-Halabi, 24, of sending e-mail with information about the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay "to unauthorized person or persons whom he, the accused, knew to be the enemy." The Air Force documents detailing the charges do not say who "the enemy" is.

Al-Halabi also is accused of planning to give classified information about the prisoners as well as more than 180 written messages from detainees to a person who would then go to Syria.

A military attorney representing al-Halabi, Air Force Maj. James E. Key III, denied the charges, telling The Washington Post: "Airman al-Halabi is not a spy and he is not a terrorist."
(More: The San Francisco Chronicle)
2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan