SACRAMENTO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. military prosecutors have revealed only one of more than 200 documents taken by a suspect from Guantanamo Bay were actually secret, USA Today reported.
The revelation is bound to affect the court martial against Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, an Air Force translator scheduled to begin next week. The Syrian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen faces 16 charges, including attempted espionage, lying to investigators and disobeying orders.
"This case is gone," military law specialist Eugene Fidell told the newspaper. "There's no (spy) ring and no spies. ... It suggests people didn't do the kind of homework they should have done."
His lawyers have argued 186 of the documents he had -- mostly letters to family from detainees at the camp in Cuba for suspected al-Qaida and Taliban operatives -- shouldn't have been designated as secret. Tuesday, the Air Force acknowledged military and security experts have determined most documents in the case are considered "For Official Use Only," but are not classified.
Al-Halabi was jailed for 10 months before he was released in May, but is restricted to Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, where he is stationed.
