British soldier accused of passing secrets to the enemy denied bail

Friday, January 12th 2007, 2:24 pm

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ A British soldier accused of passing secrets to Iran while working as interpreter for a senior NATO commander was ordered jailed until June on Friday by a judge who denied the Iranian-born man bail.

Cpl. Daniel James had acted as a translator for Gen. David Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan. James' lawyer, Paul Raudnitz, who was seeking bail, said the 44-year-old joined the army because of ``patriotic duty toward the country that had taken him in.''

``He is committed to this country. He is proud to call himself a British citizen,'' Raudnitz said. ``He has in no remote sense any competing interest or commitment to any other country or party.''

James was arrested Dec. 18 and charged under the Official Secrets Act, and prosecutors said he ``communicated to another person information calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy'' on Nov. 2.

Prosecutor Mari Reid argued that James should be denied bail because ``it is believed he was working as the agent for a foreign power.''

Raudnitz said James' job was to translate Richards' speeches, and that he was not privy to classified information.

``The discussions with local people was never of a sensitive nature,'' Raudnitz said. ``He was never party to conversations which might be considered sensitive.''

James watched the proceedings by video link from a London jail.