Washington, October 23, 2008
ROCKED by allegations of political meddling and misconduct, officials at the troubled war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have announced that charges have been dropped against five terror suspects the Pentagon has said are dangerous al-Qaeda operatives.
All five allegedly had ties to terror kingpin Abu Zubaydah, the Saudi-born militant believed to have been a recruiter for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Zubaydah has not been indicted but reportedly gave evidence against the five that led to their charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism.
Four of the men, whose charge sheets were expunged from the Pentagon's records even before the announcement of their dismissal, were reported accomplices of "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla. He was convicted last year on identical charges in Miami.
The Pentagon judge overseeing the Office of Military Commissions as convening authority gave no reason for dropping the cases.
Commissions spokesman Joseph DellaVedova said the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled. The five men will remain imprisoned.
The Pentagon has said victims of anti-US terrorist attacks and their families will be allowed to attend trials and hearings in Guantanamo Bay of the suspected perpetrators from next month. Families will be allowed to travel to Cuba towards the end of the trial of Yemeni Ali Hamza Ahmad al-Bahlul, due to start on Monday.
ROCKED by allegations of political meddling and misconduct, officials at the troubled war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have announced that charges have been dropped against five terror suspects the Pentagon has said are dangerous al-Qaeda operatives.
All five allegedly had ties to terror kingpin Abu Zubaydah, the Saudi-born militant believed to have been a recruiter for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Zubaydah has not been indicted but reportedly gave evidence against the five that led to their charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism.
Four of the men, whose charge sheets were expunged from the Pentagon's records even before the announcement of their dismissal, were reported accomplices of "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla. He was convicted last year on identical charges in Miami.
The Pentagon judge overseeing the Office of Military Commissions as convening authority gave no reason for dropping the cases.
Commissions spokesman Joseph DellaVedova said the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled. The five men will remain imprisoned.
The Pentagon has said victims of anti-US terrorist attacks and their families will be allowed to attend trials and hearings in Guantanamo Bay of the suspected perpetrators from next month. Families will be allowed to travel to Cuba towards the end of the trial of Yemeni Ali Hamza Ahmad al-Bahlul, due to start on Monday.
Source: The Age
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