An Air Force translator for suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp tried to send classified information about the prisoners to his native Syria, military authorities charge.

Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi is behind bars at a California Air Force base, facing 32 criminal charges. The most serious — espionage and aiding the enemy — could carry the death penalty.

Pentagon officials said a broader investigation into possible security breaches at the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba was continuing.

Military authorities accuse al-Halabi, 24, of sending e-mail with information about the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay "to unauthorized person or persons whom he, the accused, knew to be the enemy." The Air Force documents detailing the charges do not say who "the enemy" is.

Al-Halabi also is accused of planning to give classified information about the prisoners as well as more than 180 written messages from detainees to a person who would then go to Syria.

A military attorney representing al-Halabi, Air Force Maj. James E. Key III, denied the charges, telling The Washington Post: "Airman al-Halabi is not a spy and he is not a terrorist."

The Pentagon's disclosure Tuesday of the case against al-Halabi came three days after officials said a Muslim chaplain at the base had been arrested. The chaplain, Army Capt. Yusef Yee, has been held without charge since his Sept. 10 arrest.

The two men knew each other, an Air Force spokesman said, but officials said they didn't know whether there had been any conspiracy to breach security at the prison camp.

The charges against al-Halabi include an allegation that he failed to report unauthorized contacts between prisoners and other military personnel. The others were not identified.

Al-Halabi worked for nine months as an Arabic language translator at Guantanamo Bay, a job that ended shortly before his July 23 arrest as he arrived in Jacksonville, Fla., on a flight from the prison camp.

When he was arrested, al-Halabi was carrying two handwritten notes from detainees that al-Halabi intended to turn over to someone traveling to Syria, the charging documents say. He also was carrying his personal laptop computer containing classified information about detainees and 180 messages from detainees he intended to send to Syria or Qatar, it was alleged.

The documents also allege that al-Halabi:

_Took pictures of the prison camp.

_Had unauthorized contact with the inmates, including giving them baklava desserts.

_Had contacts with the Syrian Embassy to the United States which he failed to report as required.

_Lied to the Air Force by falsely claiming to have become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2001. Al-Halabi, who joined the Air Force in January 2000, is Syrian.

Syria and the United States have normal diplomatic relations, although Syria is on the U.S. list of countries that are state sponsors of terrorism. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other administration officials accuse Syria of having a chemical weapons program and of helping Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime before and during the war.

Syrians have made up the largest number of foreign fighters captured in Iraq since the war ended, Rumsfeld said during a visit to Iraq earlier this month. Syria has denied helping Saddam's regime or having a chemical weapons program.

Secret documents al-Halabi is accused of trying to pass to Syria include details of flights to and from the Guantanamo Bay base; names, serial numbers and cell numbers of prisoners; a map of the base; and other military documents.

Al-Halabi is charged with eight counts related to espionage, three counts of aiding the enemy, 11 counts of disobeying a lawful order, nine counts of making a false official statement and one count of bank fraud. The bank fraud charge involves allegations al-Halabi used false information in credit card applications for several prominent banks.

It was unclear whether those allegations were related to the espionage charges; the charging documents said al-Halabi made the credit applications before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

About 660 suspected al-Qaida or Taliban members are imprisoned at the U.S. Navy  base. American officials are interrogating them for information on the terrorist network.

The military has classified many details about the prison camp and the detainees and has not identified any of the men being held there.

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