U.S. army officer in Iraq accused of aiding al Qaeda

by Yommie | October 19, 2007 at 02:10 am

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This US-Iraq story seem to be taking on a new twist. Will wait patiently for the next two weeks to see what happens.

A senior U.S. army officer in Iraq faced court martial accusations on Friday of aiding al Qaeda and illegally possessing secret documents that could have been used "to the injury of the United States".

Lieutenant-Colonel William Steele, 52, is a former military police commander at Camp Cropper, a U.S. detention facility near Baghdad airport where he oversaw the detention of Saddam Hussein in the days before the Iraqi leader's execution on December 30.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Steele aided the enemy, al Qaeda in Iraq is the enemy, there's no question," prosecutor Captain Michael Rizzotti told the final day of Steele's court martial at Camp Liberty, a U.S. military base near the airport.

Steele is charged with aiding the enemy, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, illegally possessing classified information and maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a woman interpreter.