Second translator for Guantanamo prisoners arrested

WASHINGTON -- The government on Tuesday announced the arrest of a second translator at the U.S. prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, bringing total detentions there to three and raising new concern about the extent of possible espionage.

The latest man arrested was identified as Egyptian-American Ahmed Fathy Mehalba, 31. He is a civilian who formerly served in the Army and twice started but failed to complete a military intelligence course to become an interrogator, two defense officials said on condition of anonymity.

Mehalba was medically discharged from the Army in May 2001 and later hired by a private defense contractor to be a translator at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, they said.

The arrest was the third involving someone who worked closely with the largely Muslim, non-English-speaking population of about 660 suspected terrorist fighters being held at Guantanamo. The two other men, another translator and a Muslim chaplain, are both in the military.

Officials said still others are being investigated.

The arrest of a second translator raised new concern about how the military had checked the dozens of translators needed to help with interrogations of al-Qaida and Taliban suspects whose native languages include Arabic, Pashto, Dari and Uighur.

At a brief hearing Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mehalba entered no plea to a charge of making false statements and was detained pending another hearing scheduled for Oct. 8. He could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of the charge.

Mehalba said nothing during the hearing, except to tell the judge that he could not afford his own attorney.

Michael Andrews, the attorney who represented Mehalba at Tuesday's hearing, said, "He intends to vigorously defend himself against these charges."

Mehalba was arrested Monday at Boston's Logan International Airport after authorities found classified information in his possession, officials said Tuesday.

At least one compact disc

Agents with Customs and Border Protection noticed Mehalba had a military identification card showing he was a contract linguist at Guantanamo Bay, according to a government affidavit filed in court.

He was carrying 132 compact discs, which he said contained only music and videos, the affidavit said. But agents checked his bags and found at least one that appeared to contain unspecified classified information, some of it marked "SECRET," the affidavit said.

Mehalba denied knowing how the information got on the disc, saying he bought the discs in Guantanamo "as blanks," the affidavit said.