Alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hassan out of intensive care

THE army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a deadly shooting spree at a Texan military base has been moved out of intensive care.

Nidal Hasan, who was shot in the chest by a police officer during the November 5 rampage at the sprawling Fort Hood military base in Texas, will likely never walk again and has no control over basic bodily functions.

It will likely be some time before he is ready to face trial, said John Galligan, Hasan's civilian attorney.

"He's permanently paralysed from the upper chest area down,'' Galligan told AFP.

"He still has significant collateral issues... he's an invalid.''

Galligan has asked the army to move Hasan to a hospital closer to his office near Fort Hood so that he can more easily meet with his client.

Hasan remains under guard at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, about 190 kilometres away from where the massacre took place.

"My position is until he is sufficiently rehabilitated in the medical arena and we can have unfettered access to him to work on the defense, I don't think there should be any talk about a sanity (review) board or an article 32'' preliminary hearing, Galligan said.

The Pentagon has launched an elaborate investigation into the shootings to determine whether warning signs were missed and to prevent such an assault from happening again.

Hasan is being investigated for links to Islamic extremism, including his contacts with a radical cleric who blessed the killing spree.

He faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

Twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed in the attack. Another 42 people were wounded.

Galligan said he was worried that his client would not be given a fair trial at Fort Hood given the publicity surrounding the case and the way prosecutors are "rushing things.''

"My job is to make sure that Major Hasan gets a fair, free day in court. That's what our service members fight for,'' Galligan said.

"When I defend Major Hasan, I feel like I'm defending every soldier in uniform. Too many Americans, from high level politicians on down to some people in my local community have forgotten the significance of that.''

Galligan said he was not given the opportunity to be present when investigators interviewed Hasan at the hospital or when he was formally charged and cannot get the company commander to return his phone calls.

Hasan is also facing unusually heavy restrictions in hospital, Galligan said. He is being monitored by a video camera, he has been told that all communication must be in English, his correspondence is being monitored and copied, his visitors are strictly limited and Galligan cannot be present at the same time as Hasan's family.

"I love the military justice system,'' Galligan said.

"If it's done right you can get a better trial, sometimes a fairer trial than you can in state court or federal court. If it gets derailed there is nothing worse than having the army coming against you.''

The Australian

Sheikh's offensive letters 'preaching peace'

A SELF-STYLED Muslim Sheik has chained himself to the steps of a Sydney courthouse in a bid to convey his message of peace.

Sheik Haron appeared at the Downing Centre Local Court today charged with sending harassing letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, The Daily Telegraph reported.

As the Daily Telegraph revealed last month, Sheik Haron - whose real name is Man Monis - allegedly sent the letters over two years, devastating the families of seven Diggers who died in Afghanistan.

One letter was addressed to a widow, care of a funeral home and he apparently accused some of the dead Australian soldiers of being "criminals", "killers" and "murderers" fighting a war of invasion.

Outside court today, Sheik Haron refused to apologise to the recipients, urging the letters be taken in their entirety.

He attacked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former PM John Howard who have "made Australia unsafe".

"I don't want Australia to be unsafe," he said.

"Which country has attacked us? If a country attacks us unjustly, I'm happy to go to war."

In a lengthy sermon to the waiting cameras, he also waved an Australian flag, as a number of people watched on.

Represented by Chris Murphy and Adam Houda, Sheik Haron did not enter a plea, had his reporting conditions reduced and will face court again in January.

Source: The AustralianMan Monis
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award

Problem of Guantanamo Bay returns to haunt Barack Obama

Tim Reid in Washington

May 05

BARACK Obama is on the verge of breaking two key campaign promises in his troubled attempt to shut Guantanamo Bay, with plans to revive the military tribunal system set up by George W. Bush and to continue the indefinite detention of up to 100 inmates.

The moves, which have not yet been signed off by the US President but look increasingly likely, are a result of his promise on his second day in office to shut the Guantánamo Bay prison within a year.

Since then, officials charged with working out how to shut down the prison concede that up to 100 of the 241 detainees remaining are either too dangerous to release or cannot be tried in a military or civilian court.

The evidence against many of them is tainted because they were tortured, or involves sensitive issues of national security that cannot be revealed.

The latest Administration thinking has been decried by human rights groups who point out that as a presidential candidate, Mr Obama called the military tribunal system an enormous failure and condemned the indefinite detention of detainees as a gross breach of the US Constitution.

In addition to his pledge to shut Guantánamo, Mr Obama ordered a 120-day suspension of the military tribunal system, pending a review. Officials say that they now want a three-month extension, and have indicated that the hearings are likely to be restarted, with some modifications.

On the campaign trail, Mr Obama criticised the military tribunals because they drastically reduced the rights of defendants, with hearsay evidence permitted and even testimony produced under the harsh interrogation techniques the new Administration says amounted to torture.

Read more....

Source: The Australian

US drops terror suspect charges

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.

Source: The Age