The Case of Abdul Zahir

Abdul Zahir was the first Afghan citizen to be tried before a military commission. He was allegedly captured in July 2002 in Afghanistan with $10,000, a photocopy machine, and an accounting ledger. According to the Department of Defense, Zahir was accused of being a translator for the Taliban in 1997 and then later was a translator and money courier for the alleged commander and accountant of al Qaeda, Abdul Hadi al Iraqi. In March 2002, Zahir allegedly was involved in an attack on three foreign journalists in Gardez, Afghanistan. Two of the journalists escaped unharmed. The third, Kathleen Kenna, a journalist for the Toronto Star, sustained serious leg injuries due to the attack.