Military tribunals to begin for Gitmo detainees

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Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced yesterday the go-ahead to restart the first military trials of al Qaeda terror suspects, after a U.S. appeals court endorsed President Bush's policy of treating detainees at Guantanamo Bay as enemy combatants.

The Pentagon later issued a game plan, saying 12 of the 520 prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, suspected of being al Qaeda and Taliban members are in line to undergo military commissions to judge guilt or innocence. The Pentagon named Yemeni-born Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who is accused of being a bodyguard of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and Australian David Hicks, suspected of being an al Qaeda fighter, as the first to go on trial.

Mr. Rumsfeld made the announcement with one of Washington's closest allies in the war on Islamic terrorists, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, by his side during a visit to the Pentagon. Mr. Howard, whose government had raised objections about the commission process, gave his approval after changes were made in evidentiary procedures.

"Australia is satisfied that the military commission process in relation to David Hicks ... will provide a proper measure of justice," Mr. Howard said. "We welcome the appeals court decision in the United States, which removes a roadblock to a speedy adjudication of Mr. Hicks' position."

Mr. Rumsfeld is an architect of a major 2002 administration decision that terror suspects captured in Afghanistan would be classified as enemy combatants and not be entitled to all the legal procedures for prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

The policy soon came under assault from human rights groups, and a district court judge ruled that Mr. Hamdan must receive a hearing on whether he was a prisoner of war before a military tribunal is convened.

On Friday, the judge was overruled by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia. The judges ruled that Mr. Bush had authority from Congress to set up commissions in time of war and said al Qaeda suspects are not entitled to Geneva guarantees.

The Pentagon said it normally takes 50 days for an appeals court to issue a mandate that lifts a district court stay, such as in the Hamdan case. The administration might ask for an immediate mandate so commission trials could resume sooner.

In addition to Mr. Hamdan and Mr. Hicks, the Pentagon named two detainees as facing trial: Yemeni-born Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul and Sudanese Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmound al Qosi. Each is charged with murder and conspiring to launch attacks on civilians.

Mr. Bush has designated eight other Guantanamo detainees for trial, and the Pentagon said charges would be filed. The special Office of Military Commissions at the Pentagon already has filed charges against Mr. Hamdan and Mr. Hicks.

The charges say Mr. Hamdan met bin Laden in 1996 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the spiritual headquarters of the hard-line Taliban regime. Mr. Hamdan became a bodyguard, driver and dispenser of weapons to al Qaeda members.

In Mr. Hicks' case, the charges say he converted to Islam from Christianity in Australia. He traveled to Afghanistan in early 2001 and attended al Qaeda terrorist training camps. He engaged in combat against U.S. forces before being captured.