Three Americans Arrested in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan - Three Americans arrested in Afghanistan were on a self-appointed counterterrorism mission that included holding eight inmates in a private jail, a senior official said Thursday.

U.S. officials identified one of the men detained Monday in a raid in Kabul as Jonathan K. Idema, a purported former Green Beret who claims to have links with Afghan militia forces.

The American military has warned that Idema had been posing as a U.S. military or government employee.

Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said the three men had, along with four Afghans also arrested Monday, "formed a group and pretended they were fighting terrorism."

"They arrested eight people from across Kabul and put them in their jail," Jalali said at a news conference. He said the eight were released. They weren't identified.

Jalali described the group as "rebels" with no "legal link" to any Afghan or other authorities.

Idema, described in media reports as a former special forces soldier in his 40s, appeared in Afghanistan in the winter of 2001 when U.S. and allied Afghan forces routed the Taliban.

He offered his services to western television networks, including a videotape showing a purported al-Qaida training facility near Kabul, and later featured in a top-selling book called "The Hunt for Osama bin Laden."

Afghan police and intelligence officers seized the men in a house in Kabul's Kart-e-Parwan district on Monday. Jalali said the men were operating in Kabul under the guise of working for an export company.

Police reportedly also found weapons in the compound, though Jalali spoke only of "supplies."

Afghan intelligence officers shooed reporters away from the area on Thursday, refusing to let them talk to neighbors.

The U.S. military took the unusual step on Monday — before news of his detention was widely known — of distancing itself from Idema, who "allegedly represented himself as an American government and/or military official.

"The public should be aware that Idema does not represent the American government and we do not employ him," the statement said.

A spokeswoman would give no details of his activities, insisting that Afghan authorities are leading the investigation.

2 posted on 07/08/2004 6:17:34 AM PDT by nuconvert ( "Let Freedom Reign !" ) ( Azadi baraye Iran)

I really don't know what to make of this one. It sounds like they were working on our side if not for our side.

3 posted on 07/08/2004 6:18:10 AM PDT by cripplecreek (you tell em i'm commin.... and hells commin with me.)

1. "The Hunt for Osama bin Laden" is a great book and really details how Special Forces work.

2. When you put multi-million bounties on terrorists heads, you are going to get bounty hunters. It is actually a good thing, as the bad guys now have to now worry about these and other cowboys running around the back woods. Although these guys may have crossed the line...

5 posted on 07/08/2004 6:24:22 AM PDT by 2banana (They want to die for Islam and we want to kill them)

a self-appointed counterterrorism mission that included holding eight inmates in a private jail

Paging Col. Kurtz.

6 posted on 07/08/2004 6:46:38 AM PDT by martin_fierro (P a t r v v s M a x i m v s)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.