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Affidavit: Spy suspect under scrutiny before Gitmo arrestAffidavit indicates Air Force sent al Halabi to Gitmo despite doubts
From Barbara Starr
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An affidavit that sought a search warrant indicates the U.S. Air Force was scrutinizing the activities of accused spy Ahmad al Halabi while he was still stationed in California and before he was deployed to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Al Halabi has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy by sending classified information about the camp by e-mail and conspiring to give classified information to someone in Syria. The affidavit does not explain why the military allowed him to be deployed to Guantanamo even though he was under investigation at Travis Air Force Base. In the affidavit, Special Agent Lance Wega of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations said the investigation of al Halabi was "initiated based on reports of suspicious activity while he was stationed at Travis AFB and also while deployed to Kuwait and Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) Naval Base, Cuba." The affidavit, filed September 5, sought a search warrant, subsequently granted, to examine a package al Halabi sent to his own address at the base in California while serving at Guantanamo Bay. The affidavit also reveals al Halabi's possessions were searched at Guantanamo and investigators found "several originals and copies of mail belonging to suspected al Qaeda and Taliban detainees." Attorney denies allegationsAl 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." Al Halabi's arrest was made public after the arrest of Army Muslim chaplain Capt. James Yee, who ministered to some of the Guantanamo detainees. Yee is being held on suspicion of espionage and treason in a stockade in Charleston, South Carolina. He has not been charged. On Thursday, several Pentagon sources confirmed that a member of the U.S. Air Force and a U.S. Navy sailor are under investigation for "suspicious activities" related to the detainees held by the United States. The men have not been arrested but remain under surveillance, the sources said. It is not clear when or if they will be detained. At least one of the security cases has apparently involved suspicious e-mails that were discovered as part of a routine monitoring process, one source said. The cases have come to light as part of widening security probe at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay where more than 600 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban detainees are being held. It has not been learned yet if there is any direct relationship between Yee and al Halabi. 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. 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. The affidavit for the search warrant noted that investigators found 186 "sensitive, classified Defense documents related to Camp Delta detainees." Camp Delta is at Guantanamo. While in Cuba, the affidavit said, "al Halabi made statements criticizing United States policy with regard to the detainees and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He has also expressed sympathy for and has had unauthorized contact with the detainees, including providing unauthorized items of comfort to the detainees." When he was arrested, the documents show, the airman had commercial airline tickets for a flight to Syria. Prior to his arrest, he had said he would be going to Syria to get married, the affidavit 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 possessed 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 Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre contributed to this story.
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