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US mercenary 'dangled Afghans upside down in private Kabul jail'
By Nick Meo in Kabul
09 July 2004
A freelance American bounty hunter who claimed to have been on the trail of
Osama bin Laden has been arrested in Afghanistan for allegedly torturing
prisoners after they were found dangling upside down in a private cell.
The men were found by Afghan security services after they seized Jonathan K
Idema, one of Kabul's best-known characters. Mr Idema, referred to as Jack
around the city, two other Americans and four Afghans were held following a
brief shoot-out at a house in the capital on Monday.
The Interior Minister, Ali Ahmad Jalali, said the men had "formed a group and
pretended they were fighting terrorism. They arrested eight people from across
Kabul and put them in their jail". The prisoners had been released, Mr Jalali
said.
Mr Idema is an American soldier of fortune who helped the Northern Alliance
overthrow the Taliban in 2001. He claims to have trained with the SAS in
Britain.
According to his account, he arrived in the country in the winter of 2001 to
play a major part alongside Afghan guerrillas fighting the Taliban and
al-Qa'ida. His exploits were written about in a blood-curdling paperback,
Taskforce Dagger; Hunt for Bin Laden, which details the campaign by American
special forces inside Afghanistan in the months after 11 September.
The book says that Mr Idema, originally from North Carolina, joined the Green
Berets at the age of 18 in 1975, just missing service in the Vietnam War, then
later trained with British SAS forces at the regiment's base in Hereford.
His links to the US military and exact role in the campaign are a murky area.
The book quotes the veteran US television journalist Dan Rather, who met Mr
Idema in Afghanistan, describing him as "politically incorrect, abrasive,
unconventional, and unquestionably heroic". Mr Idema says he almost captured Bin
Laden during the siege at al-Qa'ida's Tora Bora cave hideout in December 2001.
But yesterday his buccaneering career appeared to have juddered to a halt and he
was thought to be under interrogation by Afghan police, possibly in the city's
notorious Waliat Jail. Hours before his arrest, the American military portrayed
Mr Idema as a loose cannon. A spokeswoman said: "The public should be aware that
Idema does not represent the American government and we do not employ him."
An unnamed Afghan official said that after the shootout with Idema and his men,
the prisoners were found in a house that had been turned into a makeshift jail.
They were hanging upside down and had been beaten. The men reportedly sported
the bushy beards favoured by Islamic radicals, but it appeared they had no links
to terrorism.
The other foreigners arrested said they were Edward Caraballo and Brent Bennett,
but it was not clear whether these were their real names. Afghan officials said
the men had been tailed by security forces before being seized in a house behind
a wall topped with barbed wire in a run-down Kabul suburb.
The foreigners had claimed to be working for an export company, but were
arrested wearing military uniforms and armed with automatic weapons. It was not
clear whether they had been charged last night.
Mr Idema was said to have spent much of his time in recent weeks at a Kabul
hotel, The Mustapha. It is popular with aid workers, UN staff, journalists and
the trickle of tourists beginning to arrive in the city. One Afghan shopkeeper
said: "He [Mr Idema] was always friendly and used to chat. He was interested in
the culture and history of Afghanistan."
The US military in Afghanistan has itself been dogged by a prison abuse scandal
mirroring the one in Iraq, with claims that prisoners died under interrogation.
Hanging in horror house
By AMIR SHAH
11jul04
BEATEN and abused prisoners have been found hanging by their feet in a private
Afghanistan dungeon run by a US bounty hunter who believes he is a real-life
George Clooney.
The prisoners were found in a torture chamber in a house rented by Jonathan "Jac
k" Idema - a purported former Green Beret who claims to have inspired The
Peacemaker, the Clooney blockbuster also starring Nicole Kidman.
Afghan forces this week raided the house in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and
arrested Idema, two other Americans and four Afghans.
Officials said yesterday the prisoners - all Afghans - were found hanging by
their feet. It is believed the prisoners were also beaten.
Idema was detained for impersonating a US soldier and kidnapping eight innocent
men who were abused for months.
Idema had no legal power to arrest people. He is one of several Western
mercenaries in Afghanistan who hunt al-Qaida for US rewards.
Idema and his men told police they were running the prison to assist the war on
terror.
But the US military has distanced itself from the claims. "The US Government
does not employ or sponsor these men," State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher said.
Afghan officials also dismissed claims by Idema, that he was a "special adviser"
to their security forces. In fact, it has been reported his methods were too
crude for an expert.
He chose his prisoners by cruising the streets and nabbing Afghans suspected of
al-Qaida links because of their long beards.
The prisoners would then be beaten until they "confessed".
Some prisoners released this week had been missing for several months.
US officials confirmed Idema had a military background, but they did not release
details. He has been described in reports as an ex-special forces operative who
went to Afghanistan in late 2001, when the US and its allies routed the Taliban.
He featured in a top-selling book, The Hunt for Bin Laden, which says he fought
alongside the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
Idema is suing the producers of The Peacemaker for almost $100 million,
asserting that Clooney's character in the film is based on him. Clooney plays a
maverick army man up against Russian nuclear smugglers.
Idema left the special forces in 1992 and returned home to North Carolina where
he was jailed in 1994 for four years on fraud charges.
He said he was framed by authorities because he refused to reveal details about
a plot to sell Russian nuclear material to terrorists.
Idema is expected to be handed over to US forces rather than face trial in
Kabul.
--
"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our
number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
~ George Bush Jr. 2001-09-13
"I don't know where he (bin Laden) is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
It's not that important. It's not our priority."
~ George Bush Jr. 2002-03-13
"I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a
deferment. Not was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by
learning how to fly airplanes."
~George W. Bush on how he dodged the
Vietnam draft---1994
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How was that my idea of liberation? Really, is that the best you can do?
Go back to reposting carp coward, it seems to be the only thing your good
at.
"I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get
a
deferment. Not was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself
by
learning how to fly airplanes."
~George W. Bush on how he dodged the
Vietnam draft---1994
I was not prepared to do anything, other than hide in my mothers basement
and post messages on a newsgroup. After all it is much safer to rant and
rave from behind the protection of my mothers skirts, than it is to
actually, physically do anything."
~ Vox Populi on how he dodges any chance of doing
anything that might scare him (which seems to be everything) ---all the
time
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Jay T. Beatty wrote:
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Jay T. Beatty wrote:
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How was that my idea of liberation? Really, is that the best you can
do?
Go back to reposting carp coward, it seems to be the only thing your good
at.
a
by
I was not prepared to do anything, other than hide in my mothers basement
and post messages on a newsgroup. After all it is much safer to rant and
rave from behind the protection of my mothers skirts, than it is to
actually, physically do anything."
~ Vox Populi on how he dodges any chance of doing
anything that might scare him (which seems to be everything) ---all the
time
Actually, it describes *you* to the letter.
You're truly pathetic, if you're an American, you must be
from New Jersey...
cheers...
HJA
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do?
Actually, it describes *you* to the letter.
Lol, it does? I'm pretty sure my wound didn't come from an IED implaced
in my basement.
You're truly pathetic, if you're an American, you must be
from New Jersey...
cheers...
HJA
Actually, Ft. Riley.
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