Pardoned Man Stays In Afghan Prison - Jack Keith Idema

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http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2007-05-29-0006.html

By The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A North Carolina man imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private jail for terror suspects has a new passport. His dog has been vaccinated for overseas travel. But two months after being freed by presidential decree, Jack Keith Idema remains in his Afghan cell. snip

They also involve documents that Idema says would finally prove his claim that he was a hired mercenary hunting al-Qaida suspects on a mission sanctioned by U.S. counterterrorism officials - a claim that American authorities have denied.

Idema's Afghan lawyer and prison officials say Idema could be only days from leaving the country. But Idema, a former Green Beret from Fayetteville, N.C., has appeared in no hurry to leave a prison cell that by local standards is top of the line.

His self-described prison "suite," has its own kitchen, a private bathroom, couches, rugs, TV, Internet access and a small staff. He is also friendly with prison guards aligned with the Northern Alliance, the coalition of anti-Taliban militias that helped the U.S. drive the hardline militia from power in late 2001.

"He is allowed to keep a dog, weapons and a cook. Why? Because the anti-Taliban factions of the Afghan government have never, not once, considered him a prisoner, but a temporary guest," Idema's U.S. lawyer, John E. Tiffany, said in a recent court filing.