BOSTON, March 27 (UPI) -- The FBI admits an Arab translator convicted of taking a classified disc was handed the disc with his personal property when he was released from prison. The Boston Globe reports agents learned of the blunder from the former translator himself. Ahmed Mehalba immediately called his lawyer and the Boston FBI office when he discovered the disc with his other CDs. | Most likely thought he was being set up |
Mehalba, who worked as a translator for the Army at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, served 17 months for removing the classified disc from the base. When he pleaded guilty, he said he had taken the disc home to work on material there and it got mixed in with other discs and CDs. Customs officials at Logan Airport discovered the offending disc in Mehalba's luggage when he returned from a family visit to Egypt. | And that's when the party started. |
The Globe said agents copied information from the disc and marked the copies "Secret," but did not put anything on the original. A clerk apparently put it with other items that had been taken from Mehalba when he was arrested. | So, Mr. FBI man, how many months is the clerk going to get? Hello? |
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