Probe Into Breaches at Guantanamo Expands

WASHINGTON - An investigation into possible security breaches at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for terror suspects has expanded to a third member of the military, Pentagon (news - web sites) officials said Wednesday.

The arrests of an Air Force translator and a Muslim Army chaplain — both worked at the Cuban base and have apparent ties to Syria — have shaken Defense Department officials. About 660 suspected Taliban or al-Qaida members are being held at the high-security base.

"We don't presume that the two we know about is all there is to it," Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

A member of the Navy who was also part of the small military community at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp is under investigation in the security probe but has not been arrested, Pentagon officials said. They did not identify the service member.

So far, charges have been filed only against Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi, 24, who worked as an Arabic language translator for the detainees. He is accused of espionage, aiding the enemy, lying to investigators and charges that he tried to pass classified information about prisoners and base security to "the enemy" and to his native Syria. The most serious charges carry a possible death sentence.

Al-Halabi denies the charges, said his lawyer, Air Force Maj. James Key III. He is also accused of not reporting unauthorized contacts with the Syrian Embassy, but Key said those contacts were to arrange for a trip to Syria to get married. Al-Halabi had his plane ticket for that trip with him when he was arrested July 23 after arriving in Florida from Guantanamo Bay, Key said.

Syrian government spokesmen denied links to the airman, who was arrested in July, more than six weeks before the arrest of the chaplain, Army Capt. Yousef Yee, 35. Yee has not been charged but is being held in a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., on suspicion of breaching Guantanamo Bay security.

Yee also has ties to Syria: He learned Arabic and studied Islam there for four years in the early 1990s. Al-Halabi lived in Syria at the time but he was still a boy; he traveled with his family to the Detroit area in 1996 and went to high school in a Detroit suburb.

The two men served at Guantanamo Bay at the same time and knew each other, though the extent of their relationship is unclear, said military officials and Key.

Senior law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said thus far there is no evidence of involvement by individuals in the United States who are not part of the U.S. military.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said security procedures at Guantanamo Bay were being reviewed.

"Any time you have allegations like this, you always look at your procedure and process," Myers told reporters.

Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., wrote to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld Wednesday urging an investigation of security measures at Guantanamo Bay. Schumer said the arrests indicate security measures "are incredibly lax at some of our supposedly most secure military facilities."

Guantanamo Bay is meant to house some of the worst suspected terrorists, the Pentagon says. Shortly after the first prisoners were moved there, Myers responded to criticism of the prisoners' heavily shackled transport by saying they were the kind of men who would gnaw through hydraulic cables of a transport plane to try to bring it down.

The Pentagon has never said precisely how many prisoners are held at the base, nor does the military identify any of the detainees or which countries they come from. Arrivals and departures of prisoners from the base are announced, if at all, after their transportation is complete.

Word of Yee's Sept. 10 arrest leaked over the weekend, and military officials acknowledged al-Halabi's arrest Tuesday after CNN first reported it. Air Force Brig. Gen. Bradley S. Baker had ordered al-Halabi's preliminary court hearing closed, but the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals ordered some of the proceedings to be opened, Key said.

Al-Halabi was a supply clerk before being pressed into service as a translator at Guantanamo Bay, according to Key and military records. He is accused of failing to report improper contacts between prisoners and unidentified other members of the military.

Military authorities say he took pictures of the base and stole information such as maps, flight schedules, and prisoners' cell numbers to give to someone going to Syria and an unidentified "enemy." The Air Force hasn't told defense lawyers who that "enemy" is, Key said.

Al-Halabi is being held at a prison on Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California. Authorities have imposed restrictions on him including banning al-Halabi from speaking Arabic, Key said. That means he has to speak to his father through a translator when the father visits, Key said.

Al-Halabi also has talked on the phone — through translators — to his fiance, who remains in Syria, Key said. He said al-Halabi's family is shocked at the allegations.

"Airman al-Halabi's father testified at the hearing ... how much Airman al-Halabi loved the United States, how important being in America was to him," Key said in a telephone interview. "They're shocked at the allegations he may have done something contrary to the United States' interests."

Speaking of the Bakaa Valley:

(snip)Industrial wastes, which may contain large quantities of similar materials, are easily recycled. Most industrial wastes are reasonably inert, but some are classed as toxic or hazardous and must be handled with special care (10). It is thought that very little industrial waste in Lebanon is hazardous (7). Assuming the level of waste generated as 10 Kg/employee/year from 140,000 employees (6), the total industrial waste arising in Lebanon are of the order of 515,000t/year (8). Most of this originates from Mount-Lebanon (57%), and this is clustered in Baabda, Metn and Kesrouan. They originate from small industries, many of which are sited in residential areas, and their waste is mixed with domestic waste (11). There are no facilities in Lebanon for the disposal of hazardous wastes. Industrial wastes are dumped in municipal dumps or anywhere that seems convenient. In addition to the mentioned wastes, commercial, construction wastes, and vehicle tires consist a significant percentage of solid wastes, and their management is difficult (10). It remains a matter of great concern that during the war, a shipment of hazardous wastes was imported to the country, but was never treated nor properly disposed of. 15,800 drums of waste are thought to have been imported, buried in both coastal and inland hilly areas. The drums are thought to contain pesticides, heavy metals, halogenated phenolic compounds, PAH, PCB, dioxins, rejected pharmaceuticals and aniline, as well as wastes from chemical weapons and explosive materials. There are many substantiated rumors about the damage that these toxic wastes are doing, including the death of 300 sheep in Zahle according to the environmental resources management of The World Bank. There is a great concern that water supplies may be poisoned in years to come as the content of the drums slowly leaks out and find their way to ground and surface water.(/snip)
- "Solid & Liquid Waste Management Issues ," - Prepared by Najib Haddad, Last modified: July 03, 2003, Lebanese-American University Student Report http://csrd.lau.edu.lb/Publications/StudentReports/Solid%20&%20Liquid%20Waste%20Management%20Issues.htm.

1998 : (LEBANON PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT IN BEKAA VALLEY MAY BE WORLD'S LARGEST PRODUCER OF COUNTERFEIT DRUGS) Lebanon 1998: Interpol, the international police agency, says a giant factory in the Bekaa Valley may be the world's largest producer of counterfeit medication, including Viagra. An Israeli Health Ministry's spokesperson told the Jerusalem Post, "According to experts 80% of the Viagra sold world-wide on the black-market is not the real drug. What is ironic is that the black-market pills cost twice the price of Viagra gotten by prescription." - "First, Do No Harm," by Conrad F. Meier, Tech Central Station, Sept 5, 2003 (The author is Senior Fellow in Health Policy, The Heartland Institute, and Managing Editor, Health Care News.)

MAY 7, 1998 : (SYRIA USES CROP DUSTERS TO COMBAT AGRICULTURAL PESTS IN LEBANON'S BEKAA VALLEY) The agriculture ministry is launching a four-day campaign to fight the "Suna" bug, a dangerous parasite that is currently affecting wheat and barley crops in the northern Bekaa, using a special plane provided by the Syrian authorities. The campaign had been organized by the ministries of agricultures in Beirut and Damascus as part of a Lebanese-Syrian cooperation agreement. - "Aerial spraying of pesticides in Bekaa," News from Beirut, Lebanon.com, May 7 1998 http://www.lebanon.com/news/local/1998/5/7.htm

MAY 7, 1998 : (LEBANON : MP SUKKARIEH CLAIMS EMPERIMENTAL PHARMACEUTICALS HAVE BEEN IMPORTED TO LEBANON TO BE TESTED ON LEBANESE) MP Ismail Sukkarieh is preparing a list of alledgedly illegal practices relating to pharmaceuticals. The list, he said, would be presented to judicial authorities. This comes as a response to a statement last week by the association of medicine importers which said there were no illegal or expired drugs in the country. Sukkarieh said the association had no right to decide which drugs were safe and accused it of smuggling experimental drugs into the country to be tested on Lebanese citizens. - "MP Sukkarich and drug importers," News from Beirut, Lebanon.com, May 7 1998 http://www.lebanon.com/news/local/1998/5/7.htm.

(* My note : Looks like a pretty good place to hide things to me.)

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