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WASHINGTON: A US judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly eight years, directing "all necessary and appropriate" steps be taken to repatriate him, his lawyer said. Khaled Al-Mutairi, 34, was sent to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after being arrested in Pakistan in 2001. He was picked up after traveling to Afghanistan with a charitable organization to build mosques and provide funds for schools and orphanages. US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly "ordered that the government is directed to take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate the release...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration said Wednesday it was prepared to release one of the youngest prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, days after signaling it might bring him to the United States for a criminal trial. Government attorneys asked a federal judge to give them three weeks to release Mohammed Jawad. He's been held at the U.S. naval facility in Cuba for nearly seven years since being arrested for allegedly wounding two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter by throwing a grenade at their jeep in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the United States will restrict intelligence-sharing with the U.K. if a British court reveals secret details of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee's treatment, a British government lawyer said Wednesday. Karen Steyn, a lawyer acting on behalf of the British government, told Britain's High Court that Clinton had explained to her counterpart, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, that intelligence sharing between the two countries is at risk if a court makes public so far undisclosed sections of a 2008 ruling on the alleged torture of Binyam Mohamed. Mohamed, an Ethiopian who moved to Britain as...

DUBLIN -- Ireland has agreed to accept two inmates from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern announced Wednesday. Ahern said the two men belong to a group of about 50 inmates who are "no longer regarded as posing a threat to security but who cannot return to their own countries." He declined to identify them, but other officials confirmed that both are from Uzbekistan and seized in neighboring Afghanistan in bitterly disputed circumstances. Ahern's announcement came as he met newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Dan Rooney following a visit last week by Irish officials to Washington...

Drew Brees is a great quarterback but every once in awhile he makes a bad pass. ... I was on vacation at the time of the radio interview on July 10, but I'm surprised his comments about the controversial facility did not raise more eyebrows locally or nationally. "I can say this after that experience -- the worst thing we can do is shut that baby down, for a lot of reasons," Brees said. "But I think there's a big misconception as to how we are treating those prisoners; those detainees over there. They are being treated probably 10 times...

Last week’s announcement of a six-month delay of a report by a U.S. government panel on detention policy signals major trouble ahead for the Obama administration. This is a significant embarrassment for the White House, as President Obama had made closing down the detention facility at Guantanamo a priority issue as soon as he entered office. The White House won’t admit it, but Barack Obama will find it extremely difficult to close down Gitmo by the January 22, 2010 deadline set by his executive order, or even by the end of his term. In addition to the immensely complex legal...

<p>I searched the local newspapers this morning looking for any mention of the complaint filed by U.S. Naval Commander Jeffrey Gordon against the Miami Herald’s military reporter, Carol Rosenberg, “for abusive and degrading comments of an explicitly sexual nature made against me and others while at Guantanamo and Andrews Air Force Base.”</p>

A common theme that runs through President Obama's statements is the idea the United States must atone for its past policies, whether it is America's application of the war against Islamist terrorism or its overall foreign policy. At the core of this message is the concept that the U.S. is a flawed nation that must seek redemption by apologizing for its past "sins." On several occasions, President Obama has sought to apologize for the actions of his own country when addressing a foreign audience--including seven of the 10 apologies listed below. The President has already apologized for his country to...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department conceded Friday that it lacks the evidence to hold a teenage Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant after a federal judge last week ruled that his confession was inadmissible. In a hearing last week, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle ruled that Mohammed Jawad's confession to Afghan officials was inadmissible because it had been extracted through torture. She also questioned whether the Justice Department had any evidence to proceed with a trial to determine whether he can be held as an enemy combatant.

Note: The following text is a quote: Detention Policy Task Force Issues Preliminary Report The Department of Justice and Department of Defense today announced that the Detention Policy Task Force, which was created pursuant to Executive Order 13493, has issued a preliminary report on military commissions and a process for the determination of prosecution forum for trials of suspected terrorists. A copy of the report is attached. As authorized by the Executive Order, the Attorney General and Secretary of Defense have also decided to extend by six months the period in which the Task Force will conduct its work and...

SNIPPET: "BEIJING - THREE Uighur men tried to incite other Muslims to launch a 'jihad' and attacked a mosque security guard before police shot and killed two of them, state media reported on Tuesday. The incident began when around 150 Muslims were praying in a mosque in Urumqi, the capital of the northwest Xinjiang region on Monday, Xinhua news agency said, citing an unnamed imam who was giving a service at the time. One man stood up and tried to take over the prayers but was stopped, the imam told Xinhua. A few minutes later the man reportedly stood up...

Note: The following text is a quote: News American Forces Press Service Top Defense Lawyer Calls for Military Commissions Reform By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, July 7, 2009 – Closing the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and reforming military commissions will enhance national security, the Defense Department’s chief legal advisor said today before Congress. Echoing President Barack Obama’s recent call to reform the Military Commissions Act of 2006, General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he welcomes the opportunity to help change military commissions into...

Gitmo: Seller’s Remorse by: Brittany Fortier, July 07, 2009 Photographs that allegedly depict detainee abuse have generated debate in Congress, with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Car.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) saying on June 11, 2009 that “if the House drops the provision [from the Senate bill] that would prevent these photos from being released … American soldiers are going to be subject to increased violent attack...” The debate has also prompted discussion of how the Obama administration will handle the split among Democrats on this issue. A panel hosted on June 15, 2009, by the Center for American Progress (CAP)...

For years, Democrats clamored for the closing of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using the prison to pummel President George W. Bush for abusing his authority, violating domestic and international law, and tarnishing the reputation of the United States... Now lawmakers are making it nearly impossible for President Obama to close the notorious prison by year's end, as he promised to do. Ms. Feinstein, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and 88 other senators -- including every Republican -- voted to attach to a must-pass, supplemental war spending bill several provisions that tie the president's hands. Ms....

The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday accused the Obama administration of using statements elicited through torture to justify the confinement of a detainee it represents at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ACLU is asking a federal judge to throw out those statements and others made by Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan who may have been as young as 12 when he was captured. His attorney argued that Jawad was abused in U.S. custody, threatened and subjected to intense sleep deprivation.

Like his fellow prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Kuwaiti detainee Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari hoped that President Obama's election would finally bring justice. Judges, not political appointees, would prevail and restore the rule of law. Unfortunately, nothing seems to have changed. The Obama administration is reportedly considering an executive order that would "reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely," and the situation at the prison itself is worsening.... When international media attention on Guantanamo grew, such "enhanced" interrogation techniques stopped. But since Obama pledged to close the prison, cell extractions, slurs and petty persecutions have increased. In some cases, the...

The Obama administration, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close Guantanamo, has drafted an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations. Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that bypassing Congress could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.

White House Drafts Executive Order to Allow Indefinite Detention of Terror Suspects (Dafna Linzer and Peter Finn, 6/26/09, Washington Post) The Obama administration, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close Guantanamo, has drafted an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations. Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war.

A recent thread on the Al-Falluja jihadist forum discussed the case of whether a Muslim who has nothing else to eat may kill an infidel in order to eat him. The discussion was prompted by a recently published book by Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, one of the most influential jihadist sheikhs active today"Is It Permitted To Eat The Flesh of American Soldiers?" On June 13, 2009, a member of the Al-Falluja forum who uses the moniker "Al-Maqdisi's Student" wrote a post based on this passage [in full report] titled "Is it permitted to eat the flesh of American soldiers? A quote...

Remember Obama's Cairo speech when he talked about the aftermath of 9/11: The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course. I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year. Ever wonder about what the other side thinks? Well we know about the beading of Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg among others. But that is Kindness compared to what some Jihadists talk...

Portugal will take in two or three Guantanamo detainees once they are released by the U.S. detention center, the foreign minister said. President Barack Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center by early next year, and has asked European nations to accept some of the camp's 229 detainees. The EU, which long argued for the prison's closure, agreed last week to "turn the page" on Guantanamo, but said it was up to individual EU members to decide whether to take in detainees from the camp. Few have agreed. The Portuguese government is now working out the legal...

MELEKEOK, Palau (AP) — Some Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay are hesitant about accepting this tiny Pacific nation's offer to take them in because they fear it cannot shield them from China, Palau's president said Tuesday. An American official in Palau described the concerns as unwarranted, pointing out that Beijing has no political influence over the island country. It was also unclear whether the detainees even have a say in where they will be resettled.

[L]ast week, after more delays in the process, the administration called victims of the Cole, Bali and Sept. 11 attacks together again to receive an update about the work of the Detainee Review Task Force. The meeting was emotional and heart-wrenching. Each person was given the opportunity to speak about the impact the president's decisions were having on him or her and loved ones. The brave families of our heroes showed true courage in that room. Once again, they had traveled to Washington to express their frustration at seeing justice delayed. If they were truly involved, and the administration were...

It's not just former Vice President Dick Cheney. As former President George W. Bush offered his first public - though veiled - criticisms of his successor's administration last week, a growing number of his senior aides and advisers are also speaking up to defend Mr. Bush's record and take on the Obama White House. A few of them are marrying their insider's policy knowledge with modern technology to critique, in detail, President Obama's economic program. The day Mr. Obama left for the Middle East earlier this month, former Bush official Tony Fratto launched a broadside against the White House claim...

The fate of three of nine foreigners abducted in Yemen last week is known — their bodies were found, shot execution style. The whereabouts of the other six — including three children under the age of 6 — remain a mystery. But terrorism experts say their abductors and killers are almost certainly not a mystery. They say the crimes bear the mark of Al Qaeda, and they fear they are the handiwork of the international terror organization's No. 2 man in the Arabian Peninsula: Said Ali al-Shihri, an Islamic extremist who once was in American custody — but who was...

George W. Bush: After being pummeled by his successor, the 43rd president ends his silence on America's slide into socialism and timidity. He reminds us leadership is not something that comes off a teleprompter. Perhaps tired about being publicly blamed by the current administration for all our current ills, Bush spoke out in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday at the 104th annual gathering of the Manufacturers and Business Association. On the same day President Obama announced expanded policing authorities for the Fed to deal with a "culture of irresponsibility," another move many feel will stifle the risk takers and entrepreneurs needed...

Today I had the honor and privilege of joining other family members and victims of terrorism in meeting with members of the Guantanamo Review Task Force and the Detention Policy Task Force at the Department of Justice. I learned a lot about what our new President is doing and what he has the members of the task forces working on. After doing my own research and listening to the others present today I do not believe that there is a valid reason to close Guantanamo Bay. We are at WAR with TERRORISTS. OUR CONGRESS enacted the Military Commissions Act of...

Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the transfer of four Guantanamo Bay inmates to Bermdua branded their prime minister Ewert Brown a "dictator" and demanded he step down after negotiating a secret deal witht he United States. About 600 people gathered outside Parliament in Hamilton, the island's capital, chanting "Brown must go" and waving banners as they marched to the Cabinet office. But Mr Brown was defiant. "As some of you might know, I grew up in the protest era," he shouted at the booing crowd. "This is nothing new to me. I have seen them larger and longer," he said....

In Washington today and tomorrow, the DOJ's Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (OVT) is briefing American family members of those murdered by terrorists, as well as those injured during terrorist attacks. The stated purpose of the briefing is to: ...[offer] those interested the opportunity to meet task force members, hear an overview of task force work, and express views about the policy questions the Detention Policy Task Force is studying. Please click on the link for the Detention Policy Task Force to see some of the questions that the task force is considering. ... For those unable...

* U.S. accused of 'riding roughshod' over UK as Guantanamo detainees are sent to Bermuda in secret deal * But Washington insists deal was kept from London in an effort to protect UK's relationship with China * Bermudian opposition tables no confidence motion in Prime Minister as deal ignites political firestorm on the island * PM admits he may not have agreed to take detainees in had he known the controversy it would cause * EU agrees to take in detainees They look like ordinary tourists as they stroll along the seafront on the British territory of Bermuda, but these...

ST. GEORGE, Bermuda — Almost exactly seven years after arriving at Guantánamo in chains as accused enemy combatants, and four days after their surprise predawn flight to Bermuda, four Uighur Muslim men basked in their new-found freedom here, grateful for the handshakes many residents have offered and marveling at the serene beauty of this tidy, postcard island. In newly purchased polo shirts and chinos, the four husky men, members of a restive ethnic minority from western China, might blend in except for their scruffy beards. Smelling hibiscus flowers, luxuriating in the freedom to drift through scenic streets and harbors, they...

What to do with approximately 238 prisoners being held by U.S. authorities at the Guantanamo Bay detention center has become quite a dilemma for President Barack Obama. I have a modest proposal for him: Dear President Obama: The boys and I were talking about your Gitmo problem, and we may have hit upon a solution. We sympathize with you in dealing with one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" ideas. We understand that you pledged during the election campaign to close Guantanamo Bay, and that you never, ever break a promise. Unfortunately, no one seems to...

We were shocked to learn about Rendition Guantanamo, a game developed for Microsoft's Xbox 360. The goal is for the gamer, who plays a Gitmo detainee, to shoot his way out of the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or else be subjected to torture and gruesome scientific experiments. Apparently, some techies think terrorism is child's play.

How do we solve that problem? We pay Palau $200 million to take 13 of them and we dump four off in Bermuda. Oh, but there's a problem there, too. Our United States government LIED to Britain about that. We purposely deceived them for their own good. A senior U.S. official "told the BBC that Washington was attempting to shield the UK from Chinese anger." China considers the Uighurs terrorists and would like to have them back. We were just trying to help the UK by lying to them. Meanwhile, we're shipping the rest of the Uighurs, along with a...

Late on Wednesday night, British officials received a telephone call from the Obama administration informing them that four Uighurs - Chinese Muslims - were about to board a plane at Guantanamo Bay bound for Bermuda. It was a fait accompli, arranged directly between the Obama administration and Ewart Brown, the Bermudan premier. The UK had no choice - it was too late for any debate about the issue. The Uighurs (lucky them, for the alternative was Albania) would be on Bermudan soil by Thursday morning. The problem is that Bermuda is one of 14 British sovereign territories - the oldest...

Despite fierce opposition in Congress, the White House insisted Friday it has not ruled out releasing Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States. But with narrowing options, the administration has begun shipping newly cleared inmates abroad... White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration has not abandoned the possibility of releasing detainees in the U.S... Authorities announced late Friday that three detainees had been sent home to Saudi Arabia. The Justice Department said the trio will be subject to judicial review in Saudi Arabia before they participate in a "rehabilitation" program... With the latest transfer, the U.S. has removed 10...

The Obama administration has virtually abandoned plans to resettle in the United States some detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said, a recognition that the task had become politically impossible because of congressional opposition. The shift came even as the administration announced Thursday that it had transferred six detainees from the prison, including four Chinese Muslims sent to Bermuda, as it tries to meet a one-year deadline for shutting down the controversial facility. The administration had hoped to move some of the Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, to the United States as a signal to other...

the administration is now nearing a deal with Saudi Arabia to take many of the 100 Yemini detainees who remain at Gitmo. Supposedly the Yeminis would enter one of the Saudi rehabilitation programs. Yemin has asked the U.S. for financial assistance to establish a rehabilitation program similar to that of the Saudi's but so far, the U.S. has resisted that option. What kind of sweetener are we adding to the deal? If we're giving Palau $200 million, what are we offering Saudi Arabia? Is throwing Israel under the bus part of the deal? Just askin'.

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau's decision to allow 13 Chinese Muslims from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to resettle there has sparked anger among islanders who fear for the safety of the tranquil tourist haven. The U.S. government determined last year that the Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, were not enemy combatants and should be released from the U.S. military prison in Cuba. China has objected to their resettlement, calling the men "terrorist suspects" and demanding they be sent home. The U.S. has said it fears the men would be executed if they were returned to China. Palau President Johnson...

Britain was left scrambling to assert the vestiges of its colonial authority yesterday after Bermuda welcomed in four former Guantánamo detainees under a secret deal with the United States. British officials knew nothing of the arrangement until the men, all ethnic Uighurs from western China, were already airborne en route from Guantánamo to the British island territory, better known as a haven for tourists and tax exiles than former terrorist suspects. Alarm bells sounded in London when Ewart Brown, the Bermudian Premier, welcomed the men as “landed in Bermuda in the short term, provided with the opportunity to become naturalised...

What connects Obama's pronouncements on head scarves and the argument over released Guantanamo detainees? ___ Nothing prepared me for the way in which the authorities at the camp have allowed the most extreme religious cultists among the inmates to be the organizers of the prisoners' daily routine. Suppose that you were a secular or unfanatical person caught in the net by mistake; you would still find yourself being compelled to pray five times a day (the guards are not permitted to interrupt), to have a Quran in your cell, and to eat food prepared to halal (or Sharia) standards. I...

Senior aides to President Barack Obama accompanied four Chinese Muslims and their lawyers on a flight from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Bermuda. The four Chinese Muslims, called Uighurs (WEE-gurs), were resettled in Bermuda on Thursday. The U.S. government had determined they were not enemy combatants and should be released. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor says that White House counsel Greg Craig and the special envoy charged with overseeing the closure of the prison at Guantanamo, Daniel Fried, were aboard the plane.

Note: The following text is a quote: United States Transfers Two Guantanamo Detainees to Foreign Nations The Department today announced that one national of Iraq and one national of Chad have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to their home countries. As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009, Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, these detainees were approved for transfer from Guantanamo Bay. The transfers were carried out pursuant to arrangements between the United States and the governments of...

So much for Barack Obama having trouble working out where to send all the detainees from Guantanamo. It is true that lots of awful places in the American heartland were overcome by an attack of Nimbyism when Obama announced the Cuban prison was closing. All that is, except the residents of Hardin, Montana. Everyone else who had been moaning that Guantanamo was a frightful, frightful violation of human rights suddenly didn't seem so keen to help when the administration came looking for somewhere to park the inmates. But whoa! Who wants to spend the rest of their lives in Asskicker,...

Officials: 4 Uighur Detainees From Guantanamo Sent to Bermuda U.S. officials say four Uighur detainees from Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Bermuda. FOXNews.com Thursday, June 11, 2009 WASHINGTON -- Four Uighur detainees from Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Bermuda, officials said Thursday. The transfer marks the first time that the government has resettled any of the camp's Uighur population since 2006 -- when five Uighurs were transferred to Albania, according to the administration. "By helping accomplish the president's objective of closing Guantanamo, the transfer of these detainees will make America safer," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a...

China has demanded the return of 17 Chinese Muslim Uighur detainees held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay. America should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. Palau, a former US Pacific territory which does not recognise China, has agreed to accept the ethnic Uighurs. US President Barack Obama has ordered the Guantanamo detention centre closed by early next year. Some 22 Uighurs were captured by United States forces during their invasion of Afghanistan and taken to the detention base in Cuba but were found not to be enemy combatants four...

War On Terror: In sight of where the World Trade Center stood, Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard goes on trial. Once again, terror is treated as a law enforcement matter. The Obama administration has learned nothing.It's still a mystery to us why an enemy combatant and mass murderer captured on a foreign battlefield and facing 286 charges for his terrorist activities is entitled to his day in an American civilian court.

"The government of the former US dependency is understood to be willing to accept some if not all of the 17 ethnic Uighur detainees who have become a symbol of Mr Obama's difficulties with closing the controversial prison." "American states that were initially amenable to accepting the group have got cold feet, while none of the major US allies have been willing to help. Washington has determined the Uighurs can't be returned to China because they might face persecution. All had reportedly trained at terror camps in Afghanistan and allegedly belonged to a separatist movement in the western Xinjiang region....

Note: The following text is a quote: Fact Sheet: Prosecuting and Detaining Terror Suspects in the U.S. Criminal Justice System I. Terror Prosecutions in the Southern District of New York Since the 1990s, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has investigated and successfully prosecuted a wide range of international and domestic terrorism cases — including the bombings of the World Trade Center and U.S. Embassies in East Africa in the 1990s. More recent cases include those against individuals who provided material support to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, as well as against international arms...

Qaeda suspect taken from Guantanamo to New York 11 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An al Qaeda suspect accused in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa was transferred from Guantanamo Bay to appear in a New York court on Tuesday, the Justice Department said. Ahmed Ghailani will become the first Guantanamo detainee to go on trial in a civilian U.S. court. He was to make an appearance in federal court in Manhattan later in the day, the department said in a statement. Ghailani, a Tanzanian who had been held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba since September 2006,...