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Afghan trial begins for U.S. freelancers

KABUL, Afghanistan - Three Americans went on trial Wednesday on charges they tortured eight prisoners in a private jail, with the group's leader saying he had tacit support from senior Pentagon officials who once offered to put his team under contract.

The U.S. military says the men were freelancers operating outside the law and without their knowledge.

Jonathan Idema, Brett Bennett and Edward Caraballo were arrested when Afghan security forces raided their makeshift jail in Kabul on July 5.

Standing before a three-judge panel in a heavily guarded Afghan national security court, the men listened quietly to the charges - including hostage-taking and "mental and physical torture."

Three of their former captives described being beaten, held under water and left without food.

The Americans didn't testify. But Idema said afterward that the allegations were invented. He said his men had arrested "world-class terrorists" and said he was in daily telephone and e-mail contact with officials "at the highest level" of the U.S. Defense Department, including in Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld's office.

Idema said a four-star Pentagon official named Heather Anderson "applauded our efforts" and wanted to place the group "under contract" - an offer they refused for fear it would limit their freedom.

The U.S. military has no four-star female officers. The name Heather Anderson is not listed in the Pentagon phone book.

An official from the U.S. Embassy observed the trial but declined to comment on the proceedings, where only one of the Americans had a lawyer.

Afghan and U.S. officials have left open whether the men, who face up to 20 years in Afghan jails if convicted, might be sent to the United States to face charges.

Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari adjourned the case for two weeks to give the Americans and the four Afghans accused of helping them time to prepare their defense.

There was no attorney for Idema, a bearded former American soldier once convicted of fraud, who appeared in court in a khaki uniform with a reversed American flag on the shoulder.

Idema wore sunglasses in the courtroom, completing a look that once fooled even NATO peacekeepers, who sent explosives experts to help him with three raids before realizing they had been duped into thinking he was with U.S. special operations.

Idema said his group delivered suspects to American special operations troops in the past. Maj. Rick Peat, a U.S. military spokesman, said he had no information on such a handover.

In court, Idema interrupted the judge to complain about the poor translation and glowered at his former prisoners and his Afghan assistants as they testified.

Taxi driver Ahmad Ali said that his head was forced repeatedly into a basin of water and that he was beaten on the feet and stomach. He said he was fed two pieces of bread in seven days.

"They kept showing me pictures of people and asked if I knew them," Ali said. "They said they'd bring my family and beat them as well."

The American military says it has no idea what motivated Idema's group, which flew into Afghanistan on April 14. But there were indications they were intent on making money.

Idema, who claims to have fought the Taliban in 2001-2002, offered protection for journalists and hawked purported al-Qaida training videos to television networks. Idema, of Fayetteville, N.C., is featured in a book about the Afghan war called Task Force Dagger: The Hunt for bin Laden.

Prosecutor Mohammed Naeem Dawari said Caraballo, 35, was a cameraman and Bennett, 28, who wore a military uniform in court, "seemed to be a journalist." Bennett's hometown was not known.

Michael Skibbie, an American lawyer representing Caraballo, confirmed his client was a journalist from New York City. Skibbie said his defense would rest on distinguishing Caraballo from the two other men.

"I don't think anyone has said that he played an active part" in the alleged crimes, Skibbie said.

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