Army Officer Accused of Guantanamo Security Violation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico —  An Army intelligence officer was charged Saturday with violating security at the U.S. detention camp for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He is the fourth worker at the base accused of security breaches. Two Arabic translators and a Muslim chaplain face charges ranging from espionage to adultery.

U.S. Army Col. Jackie Duane Farr was charged with “wrongfully transporting classified material without the appropriate locking container” and “making a false statement in the course of the investigation,” according to a military charge sheet by the U.S. Southern Command in Miami.

Military officials said there did not appear to be any link between Farr and the other workers. They noted that Farr -- a 58-year-old reservist who was returning home after a six-month stint -- was not arrested or detained, and he voluntarily agreed to remain at Guantanamo Bay pending the resolution of the investigation.

“These are different cases,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, a spokesman for the Southern Command. “The commander [in charge of the investigation] weighed the evidence and decided Col. Farr did not present a flight risk and was not likely to engage in any further serious criminal conduct.”

As Farr was leaving Guantanamo Bay on Oct. 11, officials searched his luggage and discovered classified documents, Loundermon said. When he was questioned, Farr falsely claimed that the documents were locked up and would not have left the island, according to the charge sheet.

Security measures at Guantanamo Bay have been tightened in recent months amid charges that some officials violated military law, perhaps in an effort to assist detainees.

The former Muslim chaplain at the base, Army Capt. James Joseph Yee, has been charged with transporting sketches of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where he counseled prisoners accused of links to Afghanistan’s deposed Taliban regime or the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

Yee was held in a military brig for 67 days before being released Tuesday, when the military announced additional charges. He is also accused of adultery and of storing pornography on a government computer. He faces a preliminary hearing Monday at Ft. Benning in Georgia.

Yee is one of three men who had contact with terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay to face charges.

An Arabic translator, Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad I. Al Halabi, has pleaded innocent to charges of espionage and aiding the enemy.

A civilian interpreter, Ahmad F. Mehalba, was arrested last month in Boston and charged with lying to federal agents. Investigators said Mehalba denied that computer discs he was carrying had classified information from Guantanamo Bay. He has pleaded innocent.

It was not immediately known whether Farr had direct contact with prisoners at the camp, where some 660 men from 44 countries are being interrogated. They have not been charged or allowed access to lawyers.

Farr had been on temporary duty there, serving as an intelligence staff officer, a military statement said.

The charges against Farr have been forwarded to the commander of the base, who could dismiss them, refer them to a court-martial or direct a pretrial investigation, the statement said. He has been assigned two Army attorneys and has the right to retain a civilian lawyer.