Published January 22, 2009

Guantanamo trials suspended in wake of Obama's call

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(GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba) A US military judge yesterday halted the trial of five prisoners accused of plotting the Sept 11 attacks, giving President Barack Obama the time he sought to decide whether to scrap the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals.

Faceless in Guantanamo Bay: Human rights activists in orange robes similar to Guantanamo in-mates' uniforms call for Mr Obama to close the prison camp that was established in early 2002 to hold suspected terrorists

The move halts proceedings in the death penalty case at least until late May but was viewed by defence lawyers as the end of the special tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay navy base in Cuba.

However, four of the five men accused of organising the Sept 11 terror strikes yesterday opposed the move to suspend their trials.

The self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, asked for the trials to proceed, as did Ali Abd al-Aziz, Wallid ben Attash and Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi.

'I would like to continue,' Mohammed said.

Only Ramzi ben al-Shaiba, whose mental status is due to be evaluated this week, did not object.

Military Judge Stephen Henley suspended the session which lasted just 10 minutes.

Earlier in the day, a military judge ordered the suspension of the trial of a Canadian held at Guantanamo Bay.

Prosecutors submitted the motions just hours after Mr Obama's inauguration at the direction of the president and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Mr Obama has said that he would close Guantanamo and many expect that he would scrap the special war crimes court and direct that cases be prosecuted in the US.

War crime charges are pending against 21 men being held at Guantanamo. Before Mr Obama became president, the US had said that it planned to try dozens of detainees in a system created by former president George Bush and Congress in 2006.

Relatives of victims of the Sept 11 attacks, who were at the base this week to observe pre-trial hearings, told reporters that they oppose any delay. But human rights groups and others welcomed the development.

Mr Obama's Attorney General-designate, Eric Holder, said this month that the Obama team was already taking steps to prepare to close the prison. The military commissions did not provide enough legal protection to the defendants, he added, arguing that they could be tried in regular US courts.

Established in early 2002 following the US-led offensive in Afghanistan, the detention centre was designed to hold suspected terrorists. The Bush administration claimed that they were 'enemy combatants' of a non-state organisation and so not were not covered by the Geneva Conventions for treatment of prisoners of war.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the human rights programme at the American Civil Liberties Union, said that it was a positive step but 'the president's order leaves open the option of this discredited system remaining in existence'.

The decision was also welcomed by the European Union.

Meanwhile, the Swiss government said that it may be willing to admit detainees held by the US in Guantanamo Bay to 'contribute to a solution to the Guantanamo problem'. -- Reuters, AP, AFP, Bloomberg