http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1907800US Held on Torture Charge Freed in Kabul
U.S. Journalist Held on Terrorist Torture Charge in Afghanistan Freed, Whisked Out of Country
KABUL, Afghanistan Apr 30, 2006 (AP)— An American jailed in Afghanistan on charges of torturing terrorists in a makeshift jail was freed Sunday two months before his two-year sentence ended and whisked out of the country under heavy U.S. security.
Edward Caraballo, 44, a television cameraman from New York, was one of three Americans jailed after Afghan authorities discovered in July 2004 a squalid house in downtown Kabul containing eight detained Afghans who complained of being tortured as part of a freelance hunt for terrorists.
Caraballo told The Associated Press that he was overjoyed to be freed and would return to the United States to kiss his daughter, hug his family and finish what he says was his real mission in Afghanistan to make a movie documenting the "truth" behind the secret jail.
Caraballo maintains the American government authorized the jail, which was run by a former U.S. soldier, Jonathan "Jack" Idema, and another man Brent Bennett. U.S. authorities have repeatedly denied the claims and said the prison was part of an unauthorized hunt for terrorists.