The Michele Bachmann staffer arrested for alleged terrorism 'after being found with assault rifles in Africa'



A Michele Bachmann staffer who helped her win the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa Saturday was charged with terrorism in Uganda after being arrested for possession of assault rifles and ammunition in February 2006.

Peter E. Waldron spent 37 days in the Luriza Prison outside Kampala, where he says he was tortured, after being arrested along with six Congolese and Ugandan nationals for the weapons, which were described variously in news reports as having been found in his bedroom or a closet in his home.

The charges, which could have led to life in prison, were dropped in March 2006 after a pressure campaign by Waldron's friends and colleagues and what Waldron says was the intervention of the Bush administration.



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Evangelical organiser: Peter E. Waldron is currently working on rallying Bachmann's faith-based support

He was released and deported from the east African nation.

On Saturday, Waldron told The Atlantic website in Ames that he was a staffer for Bachmann and responsible for her faith-based organising both in Iowa and South Carolina.

But the website says he also declined repeatedly to give his name.

Asked about Mr Waldron's role and background, Mrs Bachmann's press secretary Alice Stewart replied in an email: 'Michele's faith is an important part of her life and Peter did a tremendous job with our faith outreach in Iowa.

'We are fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to having him expanding his efforts in several states.'

Waldron's ordeal and life are the inspiration for a film The Ultimate Price: The Peter E. Waldron Story from Big Promise Production.

The synopsis of the film that accompanies the trailer released on YouTube earlier this year reads:

'Lebanon. Iraq. Syria. Afghanistan. Pakistan. Uganda. India. For over 30 years, his family never knew where he went - never knew what he did. Based on a true story, Dr. Peter Waldron was on a mission. Was he a businessman, a preacher, a spy? Tortured and facing a firing squad, he never broke his oath of silence. What secret was worth the ultimate price?

Triumphant: Michele Bachmann after her Ames Straw Poll victory in Iowa last Saturday

Mr Waldron, a Republican operative since the late 1980s, had been in Uganda since 2002 and was at the time of his arrest working for the Africa Dispatch newsletter.

According to reports in 2006, he was working on a pilot study of a new health-care information technology management system.

One Ugandan paper alleged he was working with Congolese rebel militia members to capture Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan guerrilla group the Lord's Resistance Army, and claim a $1.7 million bounty on his head being offered by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The paper claims the planning for the operation was botched, leading police to Waldron's house and the guns.

But the Kampala Monitor reported that the inspector general of police 'told a news conference Waldron was suspected of links to a group in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and planned to set up a political party here based on Christian principles.'

Mystery man: Waldron, played by an actor, in a scene from the film based on his life, The Ultimate Price

Mr Waldron, on his website, says he was 'falsely accused of being a spy by the Uganda government's secret police,' leading to his arrest.

One man who knew Mr Waldron in 2004 told The St. Petersburg Times in 2006 that Mr Waldron had told him he used to work for the CIA.

The question of whether or not Mr Waldron has worked as a spy is prominently teased in the trailer for the movie based on his life.

At the time of his arrest, Waldron was hailed on one blog as being 'the latest victim of Christian persecution in Africa.'

His allies seeking to free him said he was being persecuted for his reports in the Africa Dispatch newsletter about Ugandan opposition activities, and that he denied that he owned or was storing weapons.

Dave Racer, who worked to free Mr Waldron in 2006, said on Wednesday that, at the time, there was 'an allegation that Peter was involved in gun-running, I believe he was accused perhaps of fomenting some uprising against [Ugandan] President Museveni.'

He said: 'It's not possible from here to know what was fact. There's just no way to know.

'From here, it looked like he was a victim of political persecution.'

Mr Waldron has been described as a leader of various organisations, including Advancing American Freedom (co-founder); Christians Restoring America's Greatness (founder and president); Cities of Faith Ministries (founder); the Contact America Group, Inc. (president); and The Save The Family Foundation (president).

From 1995 to 1999 he ran the Rising Stars Education and Sports Foundation in Florida, according to The St. Petersburg Times, taking in $600,000 from state and local governments, and he later had an affiliation with "the Rocky Mountain Technology Group, a Montana software development company," according to the paper.

This year's was his third Ames Straw Poll organizing campaign, Mr Waldron said on Saturday.

On his website, he says he also has worked for the Reagan/Bush; Bush/Quayle; Bauer; McCain; and Bush/Cheney presidential campaigns.