Vigilante in Afghanistan Says He Worked for U.S.

Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) — An American arrested in Afghanistan with two countrymen for illegally detaining people he suspected of being Islamic militants said Wednesday he was working for the U.S. government, and he had evidence to prove it.Jonathan "Jack" Idema said he had been in frequent contact with the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies in the course of his work tracking Islamic militants in Afghanistan, including al Qaeda members.

"We were working for the U.S. counter-terrorist group and working with the Pentagon and some other federal agencies," Idema told reporters before the opening of his trial.

"We were in contact directly by fax and email and phone with Donald Rumsfeld's office," he said, referring to the Secretary of Defense.

The U.S. military and NATO peacekeepers have said the group was not acting on behalf of, or in conjunction with, their forces.

Idema and his two American colleagues were arrested on July 5 after a brief shootout in Kabul. They and some Afghan accomplices had illegally detained and interrogated in a Kabul house eight people they believed to be terrorists, Afghan officials said.

The three face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of illegally taking people hostage, detaining and torturing them.

The arrests have been a headache for foreign forces in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military has been under scrutiny for its treatment of suspected militant prisoners.

The U.S. military has been accused by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch of "systematic" abuse of detainees.

BROKE UP PLOTS

Idema, wearing dark glasses, combat boots, khaki trousers and a shirt with a U.S. flag on the shoulder was brought into court in handcuffs, which were removed when the trial began.

The packed court sat for about two hours Wednesday with a prosecutor giving details of the charges against Idema and his two colleagues, Edward Caraballo and Brent Bennett. Idema said Bennett was working with him but Caraballo was a journalist.

Idema told reporters he had broken up a plot to attack U.S. forces with fuel-truck bombs and to assassinate Afghan officials including Education Minister Yunis Qanuni and Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

He said he had captured several militants including a Taliban intelligence chief in May and passed him to the U.S. authorities.

"The FBI has already interviewed several of the terrorists," he said. "They've already admitted that they were going to drive fuel trucks into Bagram airbase and blow up the airbase." Bagram, north of Kabul, is the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

"We stopped two of the terrorists only 48 hours before they were to kill Minister Qanuni by placing a bomb inside his office," he said.

Idema said the militants were getting orders from Osama bin Laden and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister now allied with the Taliban.

Idema said he felt abandoned by U.S. authorities.

"The American authorities absolutely condoned what we did, they absolutely supported what we did. We have extensive evidence to that ... We're prepared to show emails and correspondence and tape recorded conversations," he said.

Three of eight Afghans who were imprisoned by Idema appeared in court. One, Ghulam Sakhi, said he had been tied upside down for some time during 18 days in Idema's prison.

Another detainee, Sher Jan, showed the court bruises on his wrists and ankles he said were inflicted during his detention.

"I don't know the reason for my detention," said the bearded Jan. "They pulled me out of my house one morning, hooded me and broke a rib with a gun ... They poured hot water on me too."

Idema denied mistreating the detainees. The trial was adjourned for 15 days.