BAGHDAD - A US officer accused of "aiding the enemy" by smuggling a cellphone to an inmate in his Iraqi prison camp told investigators that he sympathised with detained supporters of Saddam Hussein, an evidentiary hearing was told Tuesday.
Lieutenant Colonel William Steele appeared for the second day before an "Article 32 hearing" -- the military equivalent of a grand jury that meets to decide whether there is enough evidence to call for a court martial -- at a US military base outside Baghdad.
Following the session, Colonel Elizabeth Fleming adjourned the hearing and will now take a few weeks to decide whether Steele is to face trial on some or all of the charges against him, including that of "aiding the enemy", which could see him face the death penalty.
"There is no date for her to report," military legal spokesman Major Richard Launey said after the hearing.
Earlier, military investigator Special Agent John Nocella testified that he had interviewed Steele on February 22 as part of a probe into allegations about his conduct while commander of a unit that guarded former members of Saddam's regime in Camp Cropper, outside Baghdad.
Prosecutor Captain Michael Rizotti interviewed Nocella about Steele's responses by telephone during the hearing, asking him: "Did he express empathy towards high value detainees, and wanted to make their life better?"
"Yes he did," replied Nocella.
"Did he say detainees should be allowed as many privileges as possible?" asked Rizotti. "That's correct," Nocella replied. "Did he provide a personal cellphone and personal email to detainees?" the prosecutor continued. "Yes, he did," the investigator confirmed.
Nocella also confirmed to the hearing that at a second interview with the suspect on February 24, Steel said: "What I have done is wrong. I will lose my commission for this."
Steele's defence lawyer David Barrett attempted to play down the significance of this evidence by calling witnesses to testify that it was common for the most senior prisoners from the former regime to be given special privileges at Camp Cropper.
"We did buy cigars for Saddam Hussein," confirmed Captain Phillip Reiman, a former Cropper food officer, interviewed in the United States by telephone, adding that military funds were also used to pay for the ousted dictator's dry-cleaning before court appearances.
Saddam was executed on December 30 for crimes against humanity.
Steele's charge sheet covers offences allegedly committed between October 1, 2005 and February 22, 2007. In addition to allegations that he "aided the enemy" by giving an unmonitored cell phone to a detainee, he is accused of enjoying improper relations with his translator and the prisoner's daughter.
On the first day of the hearing on Monday, the panel heard that a search of the 51-year-old commander's computer had revealed a large stash of pornographic videos and an email suggesting he was in an adulterous relationship, an offence under military law.
In the two months since he was arrested he has been held in a military jail in Kuwait.
Steele's case is the latest in a string of scandals to hit the military prison system since the 2003 invasion. In 2004, pictures of the abuse of detainees at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad shocked the world.
05/01/2007 19:31 GMT