Associated Press, Tue Nov 1, 2005 11:08 PM ET
Pentagon: Top al-Qaida Operative Escaped
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer
FORT BLISS, Texas - A man once considered a top al-Qaida 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-Qaida Terrorists," detailed his plans to carry out attacks in Southeast Asia,
including a plot to bomb U.S. embassies near the anniversary of the Sept. 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.
___
Associated Press writers Katherine Shrader and Robert Burns in Washington
contributed to this report.
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