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U.S. Navy petty officer based in Japan charged with espionage
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Washington — A Navy sailor who was based in Japan was charged by the U.S. military with espionage for allegedly giving classified information to an employee of a foreign government.
Bryce Pedicini, a chief petty officer fire controlman, is accused of providing documents to an employee of a foreign government at least seven times between November 2022 and February 2023 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, according to a charge sheet obtained by CBS News.
In May 2023, in Yokosuka Japan, he tried to pass photographs that showed the screen of a computer connected to the military’s classified network.
U.S. Navy Photo
He was providing the information “with reason to believe that it would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation,” the charge sheet said, adding that it was “relating to the national defense.” It’s unclear what exact documents he passed or to what nation. Pedicini is also accused of failing to report a foreign contact and the solicitation of classified information by an unauthorized person.
The Navy confirmed Wednesday that a sailor assigned to Japan-based destroyer USS Higgins was under investigation and legal proceedings are underway.
“A sailor assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) is suspected of mishandling classified documents and information. The incident remains under investigation and legal proceedings continue,” Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesperson for U.S. Naval Surface Force, said in a statement.
Pedicini’s service record from the U.S. Navy says he enlisted in 2009 and served on a number of destroyers. He was promoted to chief in 2022.
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U.S. troops leaving Niger bases this weekend and in August after coup, officials say
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The U.S. will remove all its forces and equipment from a small base in Niger this weekend and fewer than 500 remaining troops will leave a critical drone base in the West African country in August, ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline set in an agreement with the new ruling junta, the American commander there said Friday.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman said in an interview that a number of small teams of 10-20 U.S. troops, including special operations forces, have moved to other countries in West Africa. But the bulk of the forces will go, at least initially, to Europe.
Tech. Sgt. Christopher Dyer / AP
Niger’s ouster of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for the U.S. because it is forcing troops to abandon the critical drone base that was used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel.
Ekman and other U.S. military leaders have said other West African nations want to work with the U.S. and may be open to an expanded American presence. He did not detail the locations, but other U.S. officials have pointed to the Ivory Coast and Ghana as examples.
Ekman, who serves as the director for strategy at U.S. Africa Command, is leading the U.S. military withdrawal from the small base at the airport in Niger’s capital of Niamey and from the larger counterterrorism base in the city of Agadez. He said there will be a ceremony Sunday marking the completed pullout from the airport base, then those final 100 troops and the last C-17 transport aircraft will depart.
Speaking to reporters from The Associated Press and Reuters from the U.S. embassy in Niamey, Ekman said that while portable buildings and vehicles that are no longer useful will be left behind, a lot of larger equipment will be pulled out. For example, he said 18 4,000-pound (1,800-kilograms) generators worth more than $1 million each will be taken out of Agadez.
Unlike the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he said the U.S. is not destroying equipment or facilities as it leaves.
“Our goal in the execution is, leave things in as good a state as possible,” he said. “If we went out and left it a wreck or we went out spitefully, or if we destroyed things as we went, we’d be foreclosing options” for future security relations.
AFP via Getty
Niger’s ruling junta ordered U.S. forces out of the country in the wake of last July’s ouster of the country’s democratically elected president by mutinous soldiers. French forces had also been asked to leave as the junta turned to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for security assistance.
Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup in October, triggering U.S. laws restricting the military support and aid.