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US sailor charged with espionage, desertion
Washington, Aug 9, 2006 A sailor on a US fast attack submarine has been charged with spying for an unidentified foreign government in a year-long effort that was played out in three countries, the US Navy said Wednesday. The sailor was identified as Ariel Wienmann, a 21-year-old petty officer and fire control technician aboard the USS Albuquerque. Charge sheets released by the navy said Wienmann copied classified information while on the submarine, stole a laptop and peddled classified information to foreign agents in Manama, Vienna and Mexico City. The alleged espionage began while Wienmann was serving on the submarine but continued for months after he deserted from a submarine base in New London, Connecticut, according to the charge sheets. Weinmann, who was arrested March 26, was charged with espionage, desertion, larceny, violating rules on handling classified information, and destroying military property, the navy said. The charges were preferred on July 26 following a pre-trial military investigation similar to a civilian grand jury. A commanding officer will decide whether to refer the charges to trial by military court. The charge sheets alleged that Wienmann attempted "on divers occasions" in March 2005 to pass information that was classified as "confidential" and "secret" to a foreign national in Bahrain. Sometime between May and July, Wienmann, while on board the submarine, "knowingly and willfully" made "an electronic copy of classified confidential and secret information connected with the national defense," the charge sheets allege. On July 1, he stole a laptop computer on board the Albuquerque and two days later deserted while the vessel was at a submarine base at New London, Connecticut, according to the documents. The documents next put Wienmann at or near Vienna, Austria on October 19 where he "did ... communicate, deliver or transmit classified confidential and secret information relating to the national defense, to a representative, officer, agent or employee of a foreign government," according to the charge sheets. He surfaced next on March 19, 2006 in Mexico City where the charge sheet alleges he again turned over confidential or secret classified information to a foreign government. During the same month Weinmann destroyed the hard drive of a military laptop "by smashing it with a mallet and cutting off the pins," the charge sheets allege. He was arrested March 26 at the Fort Worth/Dallas International Airport by immigration and customs officials after they learned he was listed as a deserter. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Nuclear Space Technology at Space-Travel.com
Ugandan rebels storm out of peace talks
Juba, Sudan, Aug 9, 2006 Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebels on Wednesday stormed out of peace talks and demanded that the government joins it in declaring a ceasefire, threatening fragile peace efforts, officials said. |
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