Court unseals Passaro papers
Tenet, Gonzales on witness list

By ANDREA WEIGL, Staff WriterRALEIGH -- A former CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan prisoner plans to call former agency Director George Tenet and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as witnesses to aid his defense that he was acting under government authority.
David Passaro's witness list was made public for the first time Tuesday along with a score of other documents after The News & Observer, The Associated Press and The Washington Post asked a court to release them. The news organizations had complained that the federal government's prosecution of Passaro, the first U.S. civilian charged under the Patriot Act, was secret because so many documents were under seal.

A beating, a death

Passaro, 38, of Lillington, is charged with assault in connection with the death of Abdul Wali.
In June 2003, Wali was suspected of being involved with sporadic rocket attacks upon the Asadabad military outpost near the Pakistani border. Passaro, a former Green Beret who had most recently worked as a civilian for Special Forces, was a CIA contractor doing paramilitary activities in support of U.S. troops at that base.>>>more">>>>>more

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2307781p-8686608c.html