First-ever Guantanamo war crimes trial to start

Published on Thursday 17 July 2008 22:11

A US FEDERAL judge ruled yesterday that the first Guantanamo Bay war crimes trial, involving Osama bin Laden's former driver, can start next week.

The judge, James Robertson, rejected a request from lawyers for Salim Hamdan, who was the driver for bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, in Afghanistan, to stop his trial while he challenges the military tribunal system.

Mr Robertson heard more than two hours of arguments from Hamdan's lawyers and from the US justice department on whether the trial should be delayed. It is scheduled to start on Monday.

Hamdan, a Yemeni, would be the first prisoner tried in the US war crimes court at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba. There are about 265 detainees at Guantanamo.

Hamdan's lawyers said a ruling by the US Supreme Court last month made it clear that the detainees were entitled to fundamental constitutional rights. The judge said the law allowed the prisoner to appeal the verdict.