WASHINGTON, Jan 8: Capt James Yee, the Muslim Guantanamo Bay chaplain accused of espionage but later fully exonerated, left the US Army, his lawyer said on Saturday.

Friday was his last day in the army when he left the US military institution with an honourable discharge.

Capt Yee, a Muslim American, was arrested on Sept 10, 2003, and spent 76 days in a naval brig. He initially was linked to a potential spy ring operating at the naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was counseling more than 650 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters held there.

The military never charged him for those crimes, and a case against him for mishandling classified information unravelled.

An Army general cleared his military record in April of a written reprimand he received for engaging in adultery, a crime under military law, and for downloading pornography on his government-issued computer.

In March 2004, the Army dropped all criminal charges against Mr Yee, abandoning a case that once included accusations in court documents of spying, mutiny, sedition, aiding the enemy and espionage.

"As a West Point graduate, he leaves the Army with great sadness. The fact that he was imprisoned for a prolonged period for no valid reason remains indefensible," said his lawyer Eugene Fidell.

Capt Yee, a Chinese American who later converted to Islam, took a temporary duty assignment at Guantanamo in November 2002. His ordeal apparently left him bitter.

In the resignation letter he submitted in August, Mr Yee wrote that the military's allegations "irreparably injured my personal reputation and destroyed my prospects for a career in the United States Army." During public appearances, he has thanked supporters for their work but hasn't discussed the case.

"He and his family are very grateful for the outpouring of public support they have received from around the world, and he looks forward in due course to expressing his views about his experience," said his attorney Mr Fidell.

"We hope that all concerned will respect his privacy and that of his family until that time."

A spokesman at US Southern Command, which was involved in the investigation, declined comment, as did the Army.

"As a matter of practice, the Army doesn't publicly announce administrative actions such as officer resignations or soldiers leaving the Army," said Lt Col Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

Mr Fidell has previously said that after Capt Yee leaves the military, he plans to finish his master's degree in international relations at Troy State University.

In the wake of the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, many Muslims have felt they could be accused of illicit activities and not be in a position of strength to fend them off, said Samia El-Moslimany of the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"I think Capt Yee's case really gave us some hope, gave us some, I would say, optimism about our justice system and the way the general American public perception, when presented with the facts, really and truly changed," she said.