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 Bergdahl, an Army sergeant, was introduced to the investigating
officer, Major General Kenneth R. Dahl, and is expected to be
questioned by him next week in Texas in an informal setting, said
the soldier's lawyer, Eugene Fidell.
"They've said hello to one another. It was literally a meeting to
introduce themselves to one another," said Fidell, a military law
expert who lectures at Yale University.
Bergdahl was released in May in exchange for five Taliban prisoners
who were transferred to Qatar from the Guantanamo Bay U.S. prison in
Cuba.
Critics have questioned whether the Obama administration paid too
high a price and whether Bergdahl had deserted his combat outpost in
Afghanistan before his capture.
Bergdahl, 28, has completed counseling and a reintegration program
and been assigned a desk job at a Texas military base as the Army
investigates events that led to five years of imprisonment by
captors whom Fidell has described as ruthless killers.
Fidell is to advise Bergdahl during the session with the Army
general probing the case, and Dahl is expected to have his own legal
counsel present as well, he said.
The investigation was to be completed 60 days from the time of
Dahl's appointment on June 16 but an extended deadline may be
needed, Fidell said.
"There may be an extension in this case. It's a complicated matter
with a lot of witnesses," he said.
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A senior Army officer has said the purpose of the probe was to
determine facts and circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's
disappearance up to the point of capture.
Dahl's finding and recommendations will be presented to the director
of Army staff, who is not bound by the conclusions and who could
issue his own determinations and recommendations.
Fidell said Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, is to remain under the
Army's authority pending the outcome of the inquiry.
"He's on hold until matters are resolved," he said.
(Reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho, Editing by Alex
Dobuzinskis and Sandra Maler)
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