U.S. military freeing ex-Muslim chaplain from Guantanamo

WASHINGTON -- The military said on Tuesday it was releasing Capt. James J. Yee, the former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after confining him for nearly three months on suspicion of espionage activities.

Yee will be allowed to resume his chaplain duties at Fort Benning, Ga.

But at the same time, the U.S. Southern Command based in Miami, which administers the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, said it was investigating other possible violations of the military code of conduct by Yee, including keeping pornography on his government computer and having an affair. Those new charges are in addition to ones the military brought in October alleging that Yee, also known as Youssef Yee, had disobeyed orders by taking classified information home when he was leaving Guantanamo in September.

Yee's civilian lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell of Washington, said the fact that the new charges seem to have nothing to do with national security demonstrated that military authorities had made a major error when they held up Yee as a potential spy at Guantanamo where he ministered to the mostly Islamic prisoner population.

Fidell said the initial set of charges of failing to obey a lawful order by taking classified information home without proper covers was not a serious infraction and the new charges show the military is persecuting Yee to cover up its mistake.

"They have destroyed this man's reputation for what turns out to be no good reason and now it appears they are pursuing matters in a completely vindictive manner," Fidell said.

Raul Duany, a spokesman for the Southern Command in Tampa, disputed that assertion, saying: "At no time have we made any implications about what Captain Yee might have been charged with. We only said we're investigating him."

But unnamed military officials were quoted in news articles as saying that Yee had apparently become sympathetic with the Muslims being held at Guantanamo and had kept on his computer highly classified information, possibly including notes about which detainees had been questioned by which investigators and on what subjects.

Most of the 660 prisoners at Guantanamo were captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

In addition to the new allegations involving pornography and adultery, the Southern Command also charged Yee on Tuesday with falsely telling a superior that certain compact discs had been cleared for use by detainees. The charge sheet does not provide any further details.

Duany, the military spokesman, said that Yee will now face an Article 32 proceeding, which is an investigation of the charges much like a grand jury in the civilian criminal justice system. The proceeding can then recommend dismissal of the case or some sort of court-martial. In this case, the Article 32 proceeding will be open to the public.

Yee had been held at a naval brig in South Carolina and Fidell had complained that he was needlessly kept in solitary confinement and often in chains and manacles.

On Monday, Fidell wrote directly to President Bush, asking him to intercede with the military to at least have Yee released to less harsh conditions.

"I have no alternative to conclude that President Bush or his advisers had some hand in this," Fidell said on Tuesday, "and I give them great credit."

Yee will have complete freedom on the base at Fort Benning, Duany said, with only the restriction that he may not contact anyone associated with the mission at Guantanamo.

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