Guantanamo inmate given life sentence

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial, was yesterday sentenced to life in prison, denying defence calls for leniency over his treatment by the CIA.

Ghailani, 36, was accused of joining the 1998 al-Qaeda bomb attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in which 224 people died. A jury in the US found him guilty of one count of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives, but cleared him of 284 other conspiracy and murder charges.

His case has been seen as a test of President Barack Obama's approach to handling the 173 terrorism suspects held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the 11 September, 2001 attacks.

Mr Obama vowed during his 2008 presidential campaign to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, which has drawn international condemnation for the treatment of detainees. But his efforts have met stiff opposition from critics who argue the prison is needed in the battle against Islamist extremists.