WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (AFP) - A former US soldier who allegedly ran a private anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan repeatedly tried to contact a US Defense Department employee here but the Pentagon did not want anything to do with him, a defense official said Monday.
Jonathan K. Idema, who appeared in court in Kabul on Monday, said he had been in touch with a "four-star flag officer" he named as Heather Anderson at the Defense Department during the course of his anti-terror campaign.
"I did not mention the names of the generals we were in contact with but I did give Anderson's name after briefly consulting with my co-defendants," Idema said in a hand-written statement released from his prison cell.
A defense official here speaking on condition of anonymity said Heather Anderson is a civilian Defense Department employee involved in personnel security and contractors.
The official confirmed that Idema contacted her office repeatedly apparently attempting to volunteer some information.
"After making a cursory review, they checked into it," the official said. "They realized they did not want to deal with this person.
"This individual continued to try to contact the DoD repeatedly. It was very much one-way on his part, other than one or two calls to determine who he was," the official said. "I would characterize it as due dilligence."
Idema along with two other Americans and four Afghan co-accused were arrested in Kabul in July for allegedly running a private jail and counter-terrorism operations.
Their trial was adjourned for seven days on Monday after the FBI handed in evidence it had withheld for more than 20 days relating to the case.
In the rambling, 11-page statement, Idema described his group as "unpaid volunteers".
"All of us were unpaid volunteers. We repeatedly refused to take money for pay from any government or non-government source," he said.
"We agreed only to accept supplies such as secure communications equipment, flex cuffs, water, fuel."
Idema, who is on trial with US co-defendents Edward Caraballo and Brent Bennett, said that his operation had foiled bomb plots to kill senior Afghan leaders and US soldiers.
He claims that he and his partners were working with the full knowledge of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to hunt down suspected terrorists.
"The US government sought to distance themselves from us, even destroying exculpatory evidence," the statement added.