ANNE GEARAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Two men alleged to have been bodyguards and aides for Osama bin Laden have been charged with war crimes and will stand trial before the first U.S. military tribunals convened since World War II, officials announced Tuesday.
Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi, of Sudan, was a paymaster for al-Qaida, and Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul, of Yemen, was a propagandist for bin Laden, the government charged in military indictments unsealed at the Pentagon.
The two men are among more than 600 foreign prisoners held at the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba. According to the indictments, both spent time in terrorist training camps and served as bodyguards for bin Laden.
The military tribunals are expected to take place at Guantanamo Bay, though the indictments do not indicate when. The brief documents also provide no documentation for government claims the men were terrorist conspirators.
Al Qosi joined al-Qaida in 1989 and remained a member until his capture in December 2001, the indictment said. He traveled with bin Laden, serving as a driver and quartermaster, and also worked as an accountant and treasurer for a business intended to provide income and cover for al-Qaida terror operations, the indictment said.
Among other activities, al Qosi signed checks on behalf of bin Laden, exchanged money on the black market and couriered money on behalf of al-Qaida, the indictment said.
Bin Laden personally assigned al Bahlul to work in the al-Qaida "media office," where he created videotapes used to motivate al-Qaida members and recruit new terror soldiers, the indictment alleged.
Staff and agencies
Tuesday February 24, 2004
The Foreign Office today advised Britons to leave Haiti because of the "highly volatile security situation" in the Caribbean country.
In the travel advice section of its website, the FO says: "We advise against all travel to Haiti, and all British nationals in Haiti are advised to leave the country if they can do so safely.
"A highly volatile security situation prevails throughout the country, and rebels have taken up positions outside the capital, Port-au-Prince." The advice, however, added that "the threat from terrorism is low".
In other developments, Haiti's rebel leader, Guy Philippe, told the Associated Press that he did not want to install a military dictatorship, but said he was seeking to re-establish the army disbanded after it ousted the president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 1991.
With rebels threatening to attack Port-au-Prince, the US attempted to broker a last-ditch peace plan that did not require Mr Aristide to resign.
Opposition politicians were considering the plan after being persuaded by the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, to delay their formal response until late today.
Mr Philippe, who is still in Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haitien - which was seized on Sunday - said that installing another dictatorship was "not good for the country".
"The military should stay in the barracks," Mr Philippe, formerly Mr Aristide's assistant police chief for northern Haiti, said.
Even if the opposition coalition accepts the US peace plan, the rebels insist that they only will lay down their arms when Mr Aristide is out of power.
Asked if he was in contact with opposition politicians, Mr Philippe smiled and said "not officially". He refused to elaborate.
Opposition leaders disputed that comment. "We refuse to have contacts with the rebels, as well as with Aristide," Mischa Gaillard said. "We don't want to be tainted with any suspicion of condoning violence."
They have said that they are a non-violent movement supporting the aim of removing Mr Aristide from power.
Mr Aristide maintains that opposition factions are supporting the rebellion, and that the rebels are an armed wing of the political opposition.
Haiti's premier, Yvon Neptune, today appealed to the political opposition coalition to agree to the peace plan, which Mr Aristide has accepted.
The plan would allow him to remain as president, but with diminished powers, sharing, with political rivals, a government that would organise elections.
An attack on Port-au-Prince seemed unlikely today, with Mr Philippe saying that his fighters had spent the night searching in vain for government forces.
The French president, Jacques Chirac, today said that his country was ready to consider contributing to any eventual peacekeeping force approved by the UN.
In Port-au-Prince yesterday, around 50 US marines, in full battle gear, rushed off a US Air Force transport plane and secured a perimeter around the international airport. Some Haitians stood on cars or high walls to watch them.
The Marines then drove to the US embassy in a convoy of trucks and cars. Western diplomats and a US defence department official said that the marines' mission was to protect the US embassy and staff.
Ten years ago, the US sent 20,000 troops to end a military dictatorship that had ousted Mr Aristide in 1991, a year after he had become Haiti's first freely-elected leader. However, Washington has made it clear that it will not commit a large number of troops this time.
Mr Aristide, hugely popular when he was elected - especially among the destitute in the Western hemisphere's poorest country - has since lost much support.
Opponents accuse the former priest of failing to help those in need, condoning corruption and masterminding attacks on opponents by armed gangs.
At least 17 people were killed in Sunday's fighting, raising the death toll of the revolt to around 70, with dozens wounded.