2014 news: Bergdahl ventures off base

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Bergdahl ventures off base

Bowe Bergdahl was released May 31 in exchange for five Taliban being held by U.S.

He's been monitored by medical doctors since; he's now at an Army base in Texas

Bergdahl has gone to restaurants, a library and stores, Army spokeswoman says

Sometimes he's been in uniform and interacted with the public, the source says

(CNN) -- Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier held captive for five years by militants before his release a month ago, has ventured several times off an Army base in Texas as part of the effort to get him used to everyday life in America, a military spokeswoman said.

His release on May 31 in exchange for five Taliban being held by the U.S. military has rankled some, including former members of his unit, who said he was a deserter who endangered colleagues searching for him. Yet while investigating circumstances surrounding his departure, the military has also said it's focused on making sure Bergdahl gets better mentally and physically, so he can gradually readjust to normal life.

Since being freed, Bergdahl has been carefully monitored at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and his home since June 13, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

He recently transitioned from inpatient care at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas to outpatient care, the Army said on June 22.

Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, has been in Cuban custody since December 2009, when he was jailed while working as a subcontractor. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf, but they were unable to secure his release.

North Korea announced Friday, June 6, that it has detained Jeffrey Edward Fowle, a U.S. citizen it says entered the country as a tourist on April 29 and broke the law. Citing unidentified diplomatic sources, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that Fowle was part of a tour group and that he was detained in mid-May after allegedly leaving a Bible in a hotel where he had been staying.

This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on May 31.

An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on April 11. He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA.

A North Korean court sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. Those alleged acts were not detailed by the country's state-run news agency when it announced the sentence in May. Bae, here in a photo from a Facebook page titled Remember Ken Bae, was arrested in November 2012. "This was somebody who was a tour operator, who has been there in the past and has a visa to go to the North," a senior U.S. official told CNN.

Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN in January that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority.

Warren Weinstein, a contractor held by al Qaeda militants, is a U.S. citizen who has been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011.

U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport Saturday, December 7, after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained October 26 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman says the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency.

Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, in May 2013, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released a few days later and is now back in the United States.

Saeed Abedini, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013, accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches.

North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her right, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.

Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.

Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month after he was detained in April 2011. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.

Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010 without any apparent U.S. intervention. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.

Josh Fattal, center, Sarah Shourd, left, and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.

Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was also detained at Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.

Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial.

Freelance reporter James Foley went missing in November 2012 after his car was stopped by gunmen in Syria. He is likely being held by the Syrian government, according to the GlobalPost, an online international news outlet to which he contributed, and Foley's brother.

Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June.

Americans detained abroad

Photos: Americans detained abroad

Still, Bergdahl has hardly left the care of military health professionals.

Members of his reintegration team escort him whenever he leaves base and interacts with the public, the Army spokeswoman said. His stops have included a library, a supermarket and several stores of his choosing.

Bergdahl has also eaten at fast-food and sit-down restaurants. The Army sergeant is encouraged to pick the places, but because he's not from San Antonio, he is offered some advice.

"Sometimes they sit at the table with him," the Army spokeswoman said of those on Bergdahl's reintegration team who accompany him. "... Other times, they hang in the background."

During his trips off-base, Bergdahl sometimes wears civilian clothing and others times dresses in his military uniform.

In some instances while he has been in uniform, members of the public have recognized him and shaken his hand, according to the Army spokeswoman.

His reintegration phase will end sometime in the next several weeks, an Army official said.

He will then be assigned to an Army unit, according to the official, though details of his next stop have not been disclosed.

Bergdahl went missing on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan's Paktika province, where he was deployed with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

An Army fact-finding investigation conducted in the months after his disappearance concluded he left his outpost deliberately and of his own free will, according to an official who was briefed on the report.

But there was no definitive conclusion Bergdahl was a deserter because that would require knowing his intent, something officials couldn't learn without talking to him, a U.S. military official told CNN last month.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl is leading the Army's formal Bergdahl investigation, which will review previous findings. The two-star general could ask to re-interview anyone who can shed light on the case; talking to Bergdahl himself would likely be the last step in this investigation, one official said.

As of the middle of last week, the soldier hadn't been interviewed by investigators nor did he have a lawyer, one official said.

Military officials have talked to Bergdahl about the days and years after his capture as part of the reintegration process.

"We have no reason to believe that he engaged in any misconduct during that period of time," one official said late last month, referring to Bergdahl's time in captivity.

2014 news

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Bergdahl ventures off base

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