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Spy Probe Intensifies

Aired September 24, 2003 - 14:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military is preparing for more fallout in its investigation into alleged espionage at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two U.S. servicemen have been detained in recent weeks on suspicion of spying, and the military says more arrests could follow.
CNN's Barbara Starr is following the for us from Washington.

Hello, Barbara,

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles. Well, that's exactly right, sources telling CNN more arrests are possible and that at least members, two additional members of the U.S. military are being observed, are being investigated for possible espionage activities related to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

But it is U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ahmed Al Halabi that has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, apparently Syria. He worked as a military translator at the camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where more than 600 detainees are being held, including members of the Al Qaeda.

Now Airman Al Halabi was arrested on July 23rd. He's being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where he's facing more than 30 charges, including espionage, aiding the enemy, false statement, bank fraud and failing to obey orders.

According to a six page, very detailed list of those charges made available by the U.S. Air Force, the things he is specifically accused of doing, include e-mailing classified information to Syria, although it's not clear at this point whether he e-mailed two members of the Syrian government or simply to people who lived in Syria.

Nonetheless, the accusations are he e-mailed names of detainees, detailed information about the camp, information about flights in and out of Guantanamo Bay, and attempted to e-mail more than 180 messages from detainees out of the camp.

One of the charges has a bit of lighter note. It says that he is accused of providing unauthorized food to the detainees, namely baklava pastries. But the charges are, of course, quite serious, as indicated by one of them, Miles. He is accused of not reporting unauthorized communications between detainees and other members of the U.S. military, possibly a hint in that charge that other people may be involved.

And, of course, it is U.S. Army Islamic Chaplain Captain James Yee who is also being detained for potential espionage and aiding the enemy. Chaplain Yee has not yet been charged, but he also is under detention.

So the question for the military today is whether they have a broader serious espionage problem at Guantanamo Bay, or are these cases simply coincidental. Are they connected? They don't know yet -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, we were talking to Kelly McCann last hour, and he said he was talking to somebody who said, it's kind of cautioned us a little bit about the possibility that there might be a certain amount of anti-Islamic hysteria baked into all this. What are your thoughts on that, and what are your sources telling you about that?

STARR: Well, they are indeed very cautious about this. You find that military justice experts inside the U.S. military have all the same cautions you would see in the justice system in the civilian side of life in the United States. They are continuing to investigate. They feel they have some good information in relationship to all of this. But they're very cautious, because they say they don't know enough yet. They're not sure what is involved here, they're taking it piece by piece trying to develop the information, and see where it takes them.

At this point, they say they do not have any clear connection between the various cases that they are investigating. They're not sure. But some sources tell us that the U.S. military normally does not take people into detention unless they have a pretty good idea they have the guy they're looking for -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Barbara Starr in Washington, thanks very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 24, 2003 - 14:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military is preparing for more fallout in its investigation into alleged espionage at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two U.S. servicemen have been detained in recent weeks on suspicion of spying, and the military says more arrests could follow.
CNN's Barbara Starr is following the for us from Washington.

Hello, Barbara,

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles. Well, that's exactly right, sources telling CNN more arrests are possible and that at least members, two additional members of the U.S. military are being observed, are being investigated for possible espionage activities related to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

But it is U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ahmed Al Halabi that has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, apparently Syria. He worked as a military translator at the camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where more than 600 detainees are being held, including members of the Al Qaeda.

Now Airman Al Halabi was arrested on July 23rd. He's being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where he's facing more than 30 charges, including espionage, aiding the enemy, false statement, bank fraud and failing to obey orders.

According to a six page, very detailed list of those charges made available by the U.S. Air Force, the things he is specifically accused of doing, include e-mailing classified information to Syria, although it's not clear at this point whether he e-mailed two members of the Syrian government or simply to people who lived in Syria.

Nonetheless, the accusations are he e-mailed names of detainees, detailed information about the camp, information about flights in and out of Guantanamo Bay, and attempted to e-mail more than 180 messages from detainees out of the camp.

One of the charges has a bit of lighter note. It says that he is accused of providing unauthorized food to the detainees, namely baklava pastries. But the charges are, of course, quite serious, as indicated by one of them, Miles. He is accused of not reporting unauthorized communications between detainees and other members of the U.S. military, possibly a hint in that charge that other people may be involved.

And, of course, it is U.S. Army Islamic Chaplain Captain James Yee who is also being detained for potential espionage and aiding the enemy. Chaplain Yee has not yet been charged, but he also is under detention.

So the question for the military today is whether they have a broader serious espionage problem at Guantanamo Bay, or are these cases simply coincidental. Are they connected? They don't know yet -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, we were talking to Kelly McCann last hour, and he said he was talking to somebody who said, it's kind of cautioned us a little bit about the possibility that there might be a certain amount of anti-Islamic hysteria baked into all this. What are your thoughts on that, and what are your sources telling you about that?

STARR: Well, they are indeed very cautious about this. You find that military justice experts inside the U.S. military have all the same cautions you would see in the justice system in the civilian side of life in the United States. They are continuing to investigate. They feel they have some good information in relationship to all of this. But they're very cautious, because they say they don't know enough yet. They're not sure what is involved here, they're taking it piece by piece trying to develop the information, and see where it takes them.

At this point, they say they do not have any clear connection between the various cases that they are investigating. They're not sure. But some sources tell us that the U.S. military normally does not take people into detention unless they have a pretty good idea they have the guy they're looking for -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Barbara Starr in Washington, thanks very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com