H
Happy29
Guest
WORCESTER, Mass. (Oct. 15) - A civilian translator at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for al Qaeda and Taliban suspects had hundreds of documents labeled ''secret'' in his possession when he was arrested last month, an FBI agent said on Wednesday.
Prosecutors accused Ahmed Fathy Mehalba last month of lying to federal officials about classified information he was carrying when he arrived in the United States from Egypt, where he had been visiting relatives.
The arrest of Mehalba, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Egyptian descent, brought to three the number of people detained after being assigned to work at the U.S. naval base in Cuba where more than 650 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members are held without being charged.
At a probable cause hearing before a federal magistrate judge in Worcester, Massachusetts, FBI Special Agent John Van Kleeff testified that government computer experts had since determined that 368 of 725 files found on a computer disc in Mehalba's possession were labeled ''secret.''
Some of those 368 files were also labeled ''secret/noforn'' -- a security term that means no representative of a foreign government is allowed to see the contents, Van Kleeff told Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ricciuti.
Neither Van Kleeff nor Ricciuti described in more detail what information was contained in the ''secret'' files, which were found alongside personal documents, photographs and other files stored on one of more than 130 computer discs Mehalba was carrying when arrested at Boston's Logan International Airport.
Ricciuti submitted into evidence several security clearance forms indicating Mehalba was authorized to access classified information as part of his job at Guantanamo Bay, but was not authorized to travel with it.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Swartwood said he would determine by the end of the week whether there was probable cause for charging Mehalba, who is being held without bail.
Mehalba's attorney, Michael Andrews, said the translator has no idea how the information came to be stored on the disc.
Prosecutors accused Ahmed Fathy Mehalba last month of lying to federal officials about classified information he was carrying when he arrived in the United States from Egypt, where he had been visiting relatives.
The arrest of Mehalba, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Egyptian descent, brought to three the number of people detained after being assigned to work at the U.S. naval base in Cuba where more than 650 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members are held without being charged.
At a probable cause hearing before a federal magistrate judge in Worcester, Massachusetts, FBI Special Agent John Van Kleeff testified that government computer experts had since determined that 368 of 725 files found on a computer disc in Mehalba's possession were labeled ''secret.''
Some of those 368 files were also labeled ''secret/noforn'' -- a security term that means no representative of a foreign government is allowed to see the contents, Van Kleeff told Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ricciuti.
Neither Van Kleeff nor Ricciuti described in more detail what information was contained in the ''secret'' files, which were found alongside personal documents, photographs and other files stored on one of more than 130 computer discs Mehalba was carrying when arrested at Boston's Logan International Airport.
Ricciuti submitted into evidence several security clearance forms indicating Mehalba was authorized to access classified information as part of his job at Guantanamo Bay, but was not authorized to travel with it.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Swartwood said he would determine by the end of the week whether there was probable cause for charging Mehalba, who is being held without bail.
Mehalba's attorney, Michael Andrews, said the translator has no idea how the information came to be stored on the disc.