Highranking terrorists escape, US keeps jailbreak secret!

carlosMM

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http://www.gmx.net/de/themen/nachrichten/ausland/irak/1506426,cc=000000160300015064261derNF.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/01/alqaeda.escape.ap/index.html


first link German, second English

Pentagon official: Top al Qaeda operative escaped

Wednesday, November 2, 2005; Posted: 2:35 a.m. EST (07:35 GMT)

FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) -- A man once considered a top al Qaeda operative escaped from a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan and cannot testify against the soldier who allegedly mistreated him, a defense lawyer involved in a prison abuse case said Tuesday.

Omar al-Farouq was one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Southeast Asia until Indonesian authorities captured him in the summer of 2002 and turned him over to the United States.

A Pentagon official in Washington confirmed Tuesday evening that al-Farouq escaped from a U.S. detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, on July 10. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

An Army lawyer for Sgt. Alan J. Driver, a reservist accused of abusing Bagram detainees, asked Tuesday where al-Farouq was and what the Army had done to find him in time for Driver's court proceedings.

Capt. John B. Parker, a prosecutor, said al-Farouq and three others escaped from the Bagram detention center and have not been found.

"If we find him ... we will make him available," Parker said.

Members of Driver's company, testifying by speaker phone in court Tuesday, identified the detainee Driver is accused of abusing as Omar al-Farouq, who was featured in a Time magazine cover story in September 2002. The article, titled "Confessions of an al Qaeda Terrorist," detailed his plans to carry out attacks in Southeast Asia, including a plot to bomb U.S. embassies near the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Driver's Army lawyer, Capt. Michael Waddington, questioned members of Driver's company about who had access to al-Farouq, specifically asking whether the CIA had ordered military police officers to do certain things to al-Farouq.

Al-Farouq could have been the first detainee to testify against a soldier in the Afghanistan prisoner abuse case.

Driver, a reservist from the Ohio-based 377th Military Police Company, is charged with maltreatment and assault of three detainees, including one who later died, at the Bagram facility in 2002. He is accused of slamming al-Farouq against a wall.

In earlier cases of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, the alleged victims either were dead or unidentified. Other alleged victims in Driver's case also cannot testify. One was released from custody and cannot be found, and the other has died.

Driver is one of 14 soldiers accused in the abuse investigation after two detainees died in American custody in 2002.

Military prosecutors had accused Driver of hitting one of the detainees while he was shackled in a cell.

During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, lawyers and an independent investigator heard testimony from several witnesses who said they saw Driver mistreat detainees.

Lt. Col. Roger E. Nell, the investigator, will recommend whether the case should be taken to trial or the charges should be reduced or dropped.

Six soldiers have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to abuse charges. Two soldiers, both reservists from Driver's unit, were acquitted. Charges against another reservist were dropped.

Let's see, secret torture camps abroad, but not capable to watch the ones 'at home' :rolleyes:



EDIT: clarified intentional use of the term 'home' for Afghan prison by adding ''s.
 
TheEvilCheater said:
eh the article said he escaped from an afgan jail thats erm not really at home. I know your geography is a bit crappy not your fault.

I used the term 'home' intentionally, as the US has repeatedly made clear they regard Afghanistan not as a foreign country they happen to have troops stationed in, but rather as still occupßied territory, in which they have free reign. Thus, security around prisons should be as tight as on US soil, no darn foreigner interfering in it after all.

I see you have fallen into the usual OT trap that I have fallen in oh so often, too, and assumed a literal interpretation is correct, rather than interpreting cynical remarks as such. Maybe I should add ;)s or *s around the 'home'?
 
An Army lawyer for Sgt. Alan J. Driver, a reservist accused of abusing Bagram detainees, asked Tuesday where al-Farouq was and what the Army had done to find him in time for Driver's court proceedings.

especially disgusting: normal procedure is to notify the defence if a wintess goes missing. Due process has become a joke in the US military judicial system, it seems.
 
Hmm...well. This rather conveient is it not?

In earlier cases of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, the alleged victims either were dead or unidentified. Other alleged victims in Driver's case also cannot testify. One was released from custody and cannot be found, and the other has died.

How exactly did this man escape also? Considering he was high ranking he should have had major security.
 
carlosMM said:
I used the term 'home' intentionally, as the US has repeatedly made clear they regard Afghanistan not as a foreign country they happen to have troops stationed in, but rather as still occupßied territory, in which they have free reign. Thus, security around prisons should be as tight as on US soil, no darn foreigner interfering in it after all.

I see you have fallen into the usual OT trap that I have fallen in oh so often, too, and assumed a literal interpretation is correct, rather than interpreting cynical remarks as such. Maybe I should add ;)s or *s around the 'home'?

yes some kind of mark. Sarcasm or cynicalism is hard to pick up without a bit of help on the net.
 
Especially when the views that you assume are common place are a bit of a joke to everyone else here.
 
h4ppy said:
Especially when the views that you assume are common place are a bit of a joke to everyone else here.

is that a stupid flame? or do you simply want to get this thread away from the topic that is uncomfy to you: the US AGAIN screwing something very basic up while constantly whining how great they are?

:rolleyes:
 
No I am saying that you should have made your posts intent clear, since your little joke is something that almost noone got. As for the prison break, ehhh things happen. I'm more pissed that we keep top ranking people in territroy friendly to them and are then shocked when this happens. He should have been in Gitmo.
 
h4ppy said:
No I am saying that you should have made your posts intent clear, since your little joke is something that almost noone got.
your post came after my edit.... :rolleyes:
As for the prison break, ehhh things happen. I'm more pissed that we keep top ranking people in territroy friendly to them and are then shocked when this happens. He should have been in Gitmo.

and that is exactly what you do when you want thing not to happen.... unless you are an incompetent idiot, then you leave the prisoners in Afghanistan. Yup.
 
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