WASHINGTON, 1 October 2003 — A civilian translator at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for Al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects has been arrested in Boston after arriving from Egypt with documents about the US camp, federal law enforcement officials said yesterday.

The arrest brings to three the number of people detained after being assigned to work at the US prison camp in Cuba where nearly 680 suspected Al-Qaeda and Taleban members are held without charge.

In the most recent arrest, Ahmed Mehalba was taken into custody at Boston’s Logan International Airport late on Monday, after customs officials found what appeared to be classified documents in his possession, federal officials said.

The Department of Homeland Security said Mehalba, a naturalized US citizen of Egyptian descent, had arrived at Boston aboard a flight from Cairo via Milan, Italy.

During routine inspections, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers found a military ID identifying Mehalba as a contract linguist at the US base in Guantanamo Bay.

“Upon further examination, CBP officers found compact discs in Mehalba’s baggage,” the statement said. “At least one compact disc contained information that appeared to be classified.” One law enforcement official said Mehalba denied having any classified documents in his possession and authorities planned to charge him with making false statements.

The US attorney’s office in Boston was also seeking a search warrant to seize the computer Mehalba brought into the country, the official said. Mehalba was due to appear in court in Boston for an initial appearance at 2:15 p.m.

He is the second translator at the base at Guantanamo Bay to be arrested.

Senior US Airman Ahmad Al-Halabi of Detroit, Michigan, who worked as an Arabic translator at the base, previously had been arrested and charged with spying for Syria and with aiding the enemy, according to Pentagon officials.

Halabi, a 24-year-old Muslim who was born in Syria and became a US citizen, was found to have classified information on a computer in violation of security rules, they said.

The Pentagon also is investigating espionage allegations against Army Islamic chaplain James Yee, who ministered to many of the 660 prisoners at the Guantanamo base. He has been held in a military jail in South Carolina since Sept. 10, but has not been charged, the officials said.