If you’re looking for pieces on Jack Idema and his team, please click on this link.

Brent Bennett listens to his sentence at the court in Kabul, Afghanistan, in this Sept. 15, 2004 file photo. Bennett left Afghanistan late Saturday Sept. 30, 2006 following his release from an Afghan jail, officials said. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

The Boston Herald

KABUL, Afghanistan - An American convicted of running a private prison in Afghanistan as part of a freelance hunt for terrorists left the country late Saturday following his release from an Afghan jail, officials said.
Court documents filed Friday in Washington, D.C., show that U.S. officials planned to help Brent Bennett secure a passport and a ticket out of the country, and an Associated Press reporter saw a man identified as Bennett board a plane for Dubai late Saturday.

Fayetteville Online

Bennett, former U.S. soldier Jonathan “Jack” Idema, both of Fayetteville, N.C., and Edward Carabello were arrested in July 2004 and convicted of running a private prison in Kabul after Afghan security forces raided a house and discovered eight Afghan men who said they had been abused.

And these eight Afghans were connected with Mulluh Omar, connected with notorious terrorist Gulbideen Hekmatyar, etc. And let’s not forget; these terrorists lied about ‘being hung upside down in the basement’ of a building that had no basement. And after Idema and Bennett were ‘convicted’ of these false charges, the terrorists were set free and there was a bombing at Bagram AFB.

Abdul Qayum, the commander of the Pul-i-charki prison where Bennett had been jailed, said the American was in good spirits when he left the prison on Saturday.

An Afghan airport official showed an AP reporter a copy of the passport of the man boarding the plane in the name of Brent L. Bennett. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Huh.

No U.S. officials in Afghanistan would comment on Bennett’s case, and an American lawyer filing paperwork on his behalf said he didn’t know if Bennett was free or in U.S. custody. When Bennett boarded the plane he was not wearing any restraints.

Well that’s encouraging, he wasn’t wearing any restraints. Something is still odd, though, I can’t put my finger on it.

Fox News: American Imprisoned in Afghanistan for Running Private Jail Freed …

Here’s the one Jo didn’t like from CNN: Convicted U.S. freelance terrorist hunter leaves Afghan jail

These all seem to be reduxes of the same report written by Associated Press writer JASON STRAZIUSO.

Here’s one with a little different flavor from Townhall dot com:

He was held in a private room at the airport and journalists were prevented from talking to him.

Well isn’t that interesting. No reporters.

Idema, who is serving a five-year sentence, also told the AP that Bennett was being flown out of the country on Saturday. He said Bennett had been forcibly removed from his cell earlier in the week during a night of violence at the prison that included a fire being set in a cell block and gunfire from guards.

It’s good to know some of this hit the airwaves.

Bennett’s mother, Debra Bennett, said she hadn’t heard from her son directly and didn’t know his plans, but that Tiffany had told her he had left Afghanistan.

“We’re trying to find out what’s going on,” said Debra Bennett of Fortuna, Calif., about 250 miles north of San Francisco. “We miss him so much.”

She said family members hadn’t spoken with Bennett since December and were excited to hear about his release. “We just want to see him back here in the United States,” she said.

God bless Brent’s family and his grandparents, I’m sure they’re relieved.

Update, this just in from Dan:

1. Bennett was handcuffed, his cuffs were covered by a an afghan scarf. AP is stupid.
2. Bennett was siezed by US State Department who kept him under guard until he boarded the plane. AP saw this and failed to report it.
3. The DOS officers stayed on the apron and had their Afghan NSD Agent escort him on to avoid photos. They threatened to arrest a photographer there. They also threatened a US soldier at the airport with obstruction charges when he went up to say hello to Brent. The NDS tried to arrest Banderes in the parking lot after he tried to bring Brent a shirt. NA soldiers backed down the NDS agents outside the airport.
4. His passport was placed in the hands of the crew chief for turnover to the UAE police.
5. (From a source in the UAE) The UAE Immigration police called the US and Afghanistan criminal countries and said the UAE was a country of freedom, then handed Brent his passport and told the police he really didnt like the US State Dept.
6. Brent was not taken out of a “cell.” He was captured at dinner with the Commandant.
7. They tried to get Jack, but were unsuccessful, but you can get that story from another source.
8. Reports that Bennett were beat up were wrong, ruffed up, and put in solitary but not at the prison, somewhere in Kabul by the State Department. The people that grabbed him at the dinner were not prison officers.

So now we have another example of complete BS spread around like fertilizer by the AP about a story that we can verify with our friends on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq who have contacts, and are themselves coming forward to set the record straight.