WASHINGTON — An Air Force translator at the Guantanamo Bayprison camp for terror suspects has been charged with espionage andaiding the enemy, officials said Tuesday, three days afterdisclosing the arrest of a U.S. Army chaplain working at the samebase.
The two men knew each other, an Air Force spokesman said, butofficials said they didn't know if there had been any conspiracy tobreach security at the prison camp.
The Air Force announced Tuesday that the translator, SeniorAirman Ahmad I. al-Halabi had been charged with 32 crimes includingespionage and aiding the enemy, crimes that could lead to the deathpenalty. On Saturday, officials had disclosed the arrest of ArmyCapt. Yousef Yee, a Muslim chaplain who ministered to theinmates.
Al-Halabi was arrested in July, more than six weeks before Yee'sarrest. Authorities took each man into custody as he arrived inJacksonville, Fla., from the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay,Cuba.
Al-Halabi, 24, from Detroit, had worked for about nine months asan Arabic language translator at Guantanamo Bay, said Air ForceMaj. Michael Shavers.
He is charged with eight counts related to espionage, threecounts of aiding the enemy, 11 counts of disobeying a lawful order,nine counts of making a false official statement and one count ofbank fraud.
Pentagon officials said a broader investigation into possiblesecurity breaches at Guantanamo Bay continues.
About 660 suspected al-Qaida or Taliban members are imprisonedat the U.S. Navy base. American officials are interrogating themfor information on the terrorist network.
The military has classified many details about the prison campand the detainees and has not identified any of the men being heldthere.
Espionage and aiding the enemy are military charges that cancarry the death penalty, said Eugene Fidell, a civilian lawyer inWashington and president of the National Institute of MilitaryJustice. The commanding general in charge of al-Halabi's case wouldhave to decide whether military prosecutors could seek the deathpenalty in this case, Fidell said.
That decision has not been made, Shavers said. Air Forceofficials also have not decided yet whether al-Halabi's case willbe handled by a court-martial.
The last military execution was in 1961, Fidell said.
Al-Halabi was based at Travis Air Force Base in California andassigned to a logistics unit there, Shavers said. An item in thatbase's newspaper from July 2002 said he was assigned to the 60thSupport Squadron and was selected for an early promotion lastyear.
Yee was arrested Sept. 10 and is being held at a Navy brig inCharleston, S.C. A senior law enforcement official has saidauthorities confiscated classified documents Yee was carrying.
A military magistrate ruled on Sept. 15 there was enoughevidence to hold Yee, 35, for up to two months while the militaryinvestigates.
Al-Halabi was arrested July 23 at the Naval Air Station inJacksonville, also after getting off a flight from the base inCuba. The next day, military authorities flew him to Travis AirForce Base. At some point later, he was transferred to Vandenberg,Shavers said.
Meanwhile, a senator criticized the Pentagon for notinvestigating the Muslim organization that certified Yee as anappropriate military chaplain candidate. Sen. Charles Schumer,D-N.Y., said the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veteran AffairsCouncil is a subgroup of the American Muslim Foundation, which hasbeen investigated by Customs agents for possible financial ties toterrorism.
Officials of the groups have denied any terrorist ties. Ane-mail to the council seeking comment was not immediately returnedTuesday.
Schumer said he requested a Defense Department investigation ofthe group in March but the Pentagon had not started one.
''I fully support the teaching and worship of Islam in themilitary but I think it's common sense to ensure the groups incharge of vetting people don't have links to terrorism,'' Schumersaid.
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AP Military Writer Robert Burns contributed to this report.
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