First Guantanamo trial begins

Published on Monday 21 July 2008 22:13

THE first Guantanamo war crimes trial began yesterday, with a not guilty plea from a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.

Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni, entered the plea through his lawyer at the US naval base in Cuba. He is the first prisoner to face a US war crimes trial since the Second World War. He faces a life sentence if convicted of charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.

Hamdan, who is in his late 30s, wore a khaki prison jump-suit to the courthouse overlooking an abandoned airport runway.

The flowing white robe and head-dress he wore at pre-trial hearings was not cleaned in time for yesterday's opening, said Charles Swift, one of his civilian lawyers. Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001, allegedly with two surface-to-air missiles in the car.

But his lawyers say he was merely a low-level driver and mechanic without any role in the al-Qaeda conspiracy against the United States. Hamdan was taken to Guantanamo in May 2002 and selected as one of the first inmates to face prosecution.

His case has created repeated legal obstacles for the Pentagon, including a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down an earlier version of the tribunal system. Judge Keith Allred, a US navy captain, made sure none of the jury had friends or family who had been affected by the September 11 attacks.

He also indicated that he would not allow the US government to use some of the evidence interrogators obtained from Hamdan during his detention in Afghanistan. Defence lawyers have argued those statements were tainted by "coercive" techniques.

The US has charged 20 Guantanamo prisoners and military officials say they expect to prosecute about 80 in all.