A senior airman assigned as a translator for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been confined at Vandenberg Air Force Base on suspicion of espionage, aiding the enemy and numerous other charges.

The Air Force announced Tuesday that Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi, 24, of Detroit could face the death penalty on the basis of more than 30 violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The charges arose after al-Halabi served nine months on temporary duty at a U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, where 660 suspected al-Qaida or Taliban members are imprisoned. He joined the Air Force in 2000.

Although al-Halabi is assigned to the 60th Logistical Readiness Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, northeast of San Francisco, he has been confined at Vandenberg soon after his July arrest, authorities said.

Air Force officials said the reason for a Travis airman's confinement in Santa Barbara County is simple.

"Travis did not have a facility to hold him," said Maj. Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Vandenberg Confinement Facility can hold up to 35 people, according to a base spokeswoman.

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"It is used on an as-needed basis, but it's generally in use," said Staff Sgt. Rebecca Danét.

The facility houses airmen awaiting trial as well as those sentenced after their courts-martial to serve a year or less in confinement.

Those with longer sentences are taken to other military prisons.

Vandenberg's confinement facility houses inmates throughout California and from Colorado and Nevada, Danét said.

"It is a large facility that has the capability of holding people up to a year, so it's normal for them to have other people from other bases," she said.

Al-Halabi was apprehended at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Fla., July 23 and returned to Travis the day after.

According to his arrest documents, al-Halabi is accused of taking unapproved photographs of Camp Delta in Cuba, having improper communications with detainees, taking classified information to a housing unit and transferring classified information to an unclassified computer.

Information he allegedly tried to pass includes data about military transportation to and from Guantanamo Bay plus a copy of "an existing or proposed military installation map."

Air Force investigators contend this was information the senior airman "had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of Syria ... or Qatar."

He allegedly sent three e-mails with the names and internment serial numbers of the detainees and tried to deliver electronic versions of written notes from detainees to a citizen of Syria.

Additionally, he is accused of furnishing and delivering unauthorized food, such as baklava pastries, to detainees.

For three days last week, Vandenberg served as the site for an Article 32 hearing, which officials said is similar to a civilian preliminary hearing and a grand jury process.

"The proceeding was not advertised to the media in order to protect ongoing investigations, none of which Air Force officials are at liberty to discuss," the Air Force said in a written statement.

With that hearing complete, the investigating officer will prepare a report that will be provided to Brig. Gen. Bradley S. Baker, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander.

Baker is serving as the "convening authority," which means he decides whether enough evidence exists to court-martial al-Halabi.

Shavers said regulations require that decision within 120 days of the arrest.

Release of information about the arrest comes after a Muslim chaplain, who served in the Air Force and was assigned in Cuba, was arrested last week on suspicion of espionage.

Shavers said that the two cases are being investigated separately "at this point."

* Staff writer Janene Scully can be reached at 739-2214 or by e-mail at janscully@pulitzer.net. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sept. 24, 2003