Officials: Guantanamo Bay spy probe expanded
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An Air Force enlisted man who was a translator at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been charged with espionage. CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports
Capt. James Yee counseled Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo Bay security is under investigation.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Following the arrests of two U.S. servicemen suspected of spying, at least two other members of the U.S. military are being closely watched in an investigation of possible espionage activities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said Wednesday.
The Pentagon is broadening its investigation and trying to determine whether a conspiracy is involved, according to the officials.
On Tuesday, Pentagon officials said Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad al Halabi -- who worked at the U.S. Navy base where suspected al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists are held -- had been arrested and charged with espionage and aiding the enemy.
Al Halabi's attorney denied the charges against his client Wednesday. "Airman al Halabi is not a spy," Air Force Maj. James E. Key told CNN. "He is not a terrorist, and he and his family are shocked that he is accused of taking actions that would be contrary to the United States' interest."
Another member of the military who also worked at Guantanamo -- Islamic chaplain and Army Capt. James Yee -- is being held on suspicion of espionage and treason in at a stockade in Charleston, South Carolina. Yee has not been charged.
Investigators are trying to determine whether the men are linked in a conspiracy, official said.
According to al Halabi's charge sheet, he is also accused of failing to report unauthorized communications between U.S. troops and detainees, who are designated as enemy combatants. More than 600 suspects, brought to the base after the war in Afghanistan, are housed there.
Al Halabi was arrested July 23 because he allegedly had classified information on his laptop computer about detainees and facilities at the Guantanamo Bay base, Pentagon officials said. He is being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
An American of Syrian descent, al Halabi allegedly e-mailed information to people in Syria that included details about the base's flight schedule, officials said.
Al Halabi was charged with 11 counts of failing to obey a lawful general order or regulation; three counts of aiding the enemy, four counts of espionage; nine counts of making a false statement; bank fraud and violations of the Federal Espionage Act.
Al Halabi served nine months at Guantanamo Bay as a translator and was arrested about seven weeks before Yee was taken into custody.
Military authorities took Yee into custody September 10 at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, while he was in possession of classified documents "that a chaplain shouldn't have," said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said the documents included "diagrams of the cells and the facilities at Guantanamo."
In addition, Yee is suspected of having ties to radical Muslims in the United States who are under investigation, the official said.
CNN correspondents Barbara Starr and Jamie McIntyre contributed to this story.
