Guantanamo translator gets partial respite
An Arab US Air Force translator who worked at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has had three charges against him dropped.
Air Force spokesman Larry Clavette said that one charge of espionage against Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, 23, was dropped, as well as an allegation that he aided the enemy and wrongfully e-mailed detainee information.
But he added: “A number of very significant charges remain referred against him. The government fully intends to prosecute.”
Al-Halabi, who is of Syrian descent, has denied the charges. He worked as a translator at Guantanamo for nine months.
A resident of Detroit, Michigan, al-Halabi was arrested on 23 July and accused of carrying jail maps, letters and other sensitive documents away from Guantanamo, where suspected al-Qaida and Taliban members have been detained.
Charges still pending against al-Halabi include espionage, failure to obey an order, retaining documents without authority, making false official statements and executing a fraudulent credit application scheme.
The spokesman said it would be “inappropriate” to discuss the specific reasons for the three dropped charges .
Al-Halabi is expected to go on trial at the Travis Air Force Base in northern California next year.
He is one of four men, including another Arabic translator and a Muslim chaplain, charged in connection with their work at Guantanamo.