Posted on 09/22/2003 6:24:38 AM PDT by demlosers
A Muslim chaplain who was stationed at Fort Lewis in 2001 and 2002 is the first known U.S. soldier to be detained in the U.S.-led war on terror.
Army Capt. Yousef Yee, 34, was detained Sept. 10 in Jacksonville, Fla., after returning from Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba, where he was stationed.
He has not been charged, but a senior law enforcement source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Saturday that FBI agents confiscated classified documents Yee was carrying and questioned him before he was handed over to the military.
The New York Times reported in a story published today that he had drawings or diagrams of the prison. CNN suggested he had lists of the detainees and their interrogators.
The FBI also executed a search warrant in Miami at an apartment apparently used by Yee, officials said.
Military officers refused to discuss the reasons for Yee's arrest, saying that would violate his rights. But a civilian law enforcement official said the investigation was aimed at suspicions of espionage, improperly assisting the prisoners or some other breach of military duties.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that Yee was sympathetic to prisoners and was preparing to aid them in some undetermined way.
Bill Hurlburt, a spokesman with the FBI in Jacksonville, confirmed that agents were at the scene, but declined further comment. Yee, who is married, was being held at a military brig in Charleston, S.C.
Yee's job at Guantanamo was to teach fellow troops about Islam and counsel detainees suspected of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network.
Before that, Yee served as imam at the Fort Lewis Islamic Chapel Center, where he counseled Muslim soldiers.
He arrived in Fort Lewis in April 2001 and remained there until at least September 2002, when he told The News Tribune in an interview that the Sept. 11 attacks were evil and inconsistent with the basic tenets of Islam. At the time, he was one of only eight Muslim chaplains in the Army.
Born James Yee and raised Lutheran, he is a 1990 graduate of West Point. He took the Muslim name of Yousef when he converted to Islam in 1991.
At a Friday prayer service in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he warned Muslim soldiers "do not become angry" about assaults and hate directed at American Muslims.
During other interviews with The News Tribune, Yee said some Muslims were conflicted between their faith and going to war, whether against Muslims or non-Muslims. He said when Muslim soldiers asked him what to do when their units were deploying, "I encourage them to go."
While stationed at Fort Lewis, he lectured extensively to various battalions and the chapel youth group about the basic beliefs of Islam: "What happened on Sept. 11 helped us to be able to inform others about Islam," Yee said. "It caused an enormous interest in the American public to want to know more about this religion called Islam."
Staff Sgt. Mohammad Tabassum, a Pakistani American stationed at Fort Lewis and who attended services Yee conducted, said Saturday he was surprised when he heard of the detainment.
"This is not how I thought that he was. ... But he has not been charged. If the person is not charged and the investigation is still ongoing, it is not proper for us to comment on it," said Tabassum, declining further comment and directing all calls to Fort Lewis.
Fort Lewis spokeswoman Laura Davis referred calls to U.S. Southern Command in Miami.
Capt. Tom Crosson, a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command, told the Associated Press that Yee "had daily access to the detainees."
He said Yee "is the first U.S. soldier that I know of to be detained and held since the war on terror began."
In an interview conducted with the Associated Press in January, Yee refused to answer questions about the depth of his involvement with the detainees at Guantanamo. At the time there were about 650 of them, and now there are about 660 from 43 countries. Most are men, but at least three are teenagers.
When asked if he were sympathetic to the prisoners - some of whom have been held in Guantanamo for nearly two years without charges - Yee was silent and showed no emotion. When asked how his faith affected how he viewed the detention mission, he gave only a cursory answer.
"I'm here to provide spiritual services to the detainees and to the troops," Yee said, speaking of his teachings on Islam to U.S. troops at the base. He also offered Friday prayer services at the base.
As an Arabic speaker, Yee counseled the detainees, advised them on religious matters and made sure all of their dietary needs were met at the base in eastern Cuba.
In the sprawling Camp Delta - the high-security prison where the men are held - Yee was seldom out of earshot from armed guards or interpreters contracted to help with interrogations. But sometimes he had one-on-one access to detainees, officials said.
Yee's parents still live in the house where he was raised in Springfield, N.J., neighbor Matteo Apicella said.
Yee's father and sister declined comment on the case.
Yee left the Army in the mid-1990s for Syria, where he received religious training. He returned to the U.S. military soon after.
When asked during the January interview why he converted to Islam, Yee spoke of Islam's diversity and how it was a strength of the culture.
"A lot of people don't know Jesus is part of Islam but Muslims believe he was a prophet," Yee said. "Surely people can be more open-minded."
Yee arrived at the camp at a critical time, when officials were trying to jolt the interrogation process into high gear. He was also there during a time when U.S. officials came under increasing pressure to either charge the men or release them. Yee was always vague about whether he was involved in interrogations.
Since the detention mission began, Guantanamo has had at least three Muslim chaplains, the first being Navy Lt. Abuhena Saif-ul-Islam, who in 1999 became the Marines' first Muslim chaplain.
Fort Lewis was in the national news last year when John Allen Muhammad, who was stationed at the base in 1994, was arrested as a suspect in the Washington, D.C., area sniper shootings.
Muhammad is a member of the Nation of Islam and took on the name of Islam's prophet.
Imam Mohamad Joban, Washington state's senior Muslim official and spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Olympia, told The News Tribune last year that Yee did not know of Muhammad.
The Associated Press and The New York Times contributed to this report.
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