Chaplain charged in Guantanamo spy probe

A former Muslim chaplain at the US military prison for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been charged with disobeying orders by improperly handling classified information.

Army Capt James Yee, who has also used the name Yousef Yee, was charged with two counts of failing to obey a lawful order, US Southern Command announced yesterday. He is charged with taking classified information home and wrongly transporting classified information.

The charges, outlined on an Army document released by Southern Command, say Yee was carrying classified information when he was arrested last month and had taken secret materials to a housing unit while serving as chaplain at the base from November 2002 until last month.

Yee is one of three former workers at the high-security military base to be arrested in a probe over alleged spying there. Yee is not charged with espionage.

Conviction of disobeying orders carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a bad conduct discharge.

Authorities arrested Yee on September 10 as he arrived at a naval base in Jacksonville, Florida, on a flight from Guantanamo Bay. Officials have said he was carrying classified information about the base with him when he was arrested.

He is being held at the Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina.

“The Army continues to investigate Yee’s conduct, and if warranted, additional charges could be forthcoming,” Southern Command said in a statement.

Army Maj Gen Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison, will decide on the next step. Miller’s options include dismissing the charges or convening a special court martial, which could impose a penalty of up to a year in prison and a bad conduct discharge. Miller could also send the case to an Article 32 hearing, a kind of mini-trial in which prosecutors present evidence for commanders to decide whether to send the case to a general court martial.

A team of military investigators arrived at Guantanamo Bay on Thursday to probe security there. Miller has ordered a security crackdown in the wake of the three arrests, and military officials have said others who have not been arrested are under suspicion.

The most serious charges are against Senior Airman Ahmed I al-Halabi, an Air Force supply clerk who worked as an Arabic translator at the prison for about nine months. Military prosecutors accuse al-Halabi of gathering classified information and messages from prisoners with plans to send that information to Syria and an unidentified enemy. The charges, espionage and aiding the enemy, could carry the death penalty.

Al-Halabi’s lawyers say their client is innocent.

Also charged is a former civilian Arabic interpreter at the base, Ahmad Mehalba. Agents arrested Mehalba last month as he arrived in Boston after visiting his native Egypt. Mehalba is accused of lying to investigators by denying that computer discs he carried with him had classified information from Guantanamo Bay on them.

About 660 inmates are being held at the Guantanamo base on suspicion of being members of the al-Qaida terrorist network or Afghanistan’s former Taliban government. Military officials are investigating whether the three arrested men were working together.