Hyder Akbar

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Hyder Akbar is the son of Said Fazal Akbar, a former governor of the Kunar Province of Afghanistan.^[1] Akbar, a citizen of both Afghanistan and the United States, studies at Yale University. Akbar, a senior at Yale, has assisted his father and US forces, following the 2001 war in Afghanistan.

Akbar encouraged [[Abdul] to turn himself in to US forces.^[1] Akbar accompanied Wali to a US base, and served as a translator for David Passaro, a former special forces soldier, who the CIA hired, on contract, to serve as an interrogator -- even though he had no background in interrogation.

Akbar described Passaro as "full of rage".^[1]

Passaro was charged with Wali's murder. Akbar had assured Wali that he would not be mistreated.^[1]

Akbar wrote a critically acclaimed book about his experiences in Afghanistan, called Come Back to Afghanistan.

In an interview with Mother Jones, Akbar described Passaro as "a big a-hole" and said he had to stop translating because Passaro became too aggressive.^[2] Based in part on Akbar's testimony and a letter from his father, who said Passaro created distrust and set back reconstruction efforts, Passaro was sentenced to eight years, four months imprisonment on February 14, 2007.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} CIA operative admitted killing Afghan prisoner, Capitol Hill Blues, August 9, 2006
2. ^ Clara Jeffery, Mother Jones, Dec/Jan 2006 [1]>
3. ^ Andrea Weigl, News Observer, February 14, 2007 [2]>