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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267840/posts
Qaeda suspect taken from Guantanamo to New York
Yahoo ^
Posted on June 9, 2009 3:50:08 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
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, arrived in New York early Tuesday under escort from the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Justice Department said he faced 286 counts, including conspiring with Osama bin Laden and other members of al Qaeda to kill Americans anywhere in the world, and separate charges of murder for the deaths of each of the 224 people killed in the August 7, 1998, U.S. Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2268221/posts
Gitmo prisoner becomes first to go to US court
ZIMBIO ^ | June 9, 2009
Posted on June 9, 2009 1:00:32 PM PDT by yoe
The first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be transferred to US soil was due in court in New York Tuesday in a politically charged test for President Barack Obama’s plan to close the controversial prison. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since September 2006, was to be arraigned in a federal court in New York at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT).
He is charged with taking part in the August 7, 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.
This is a first test for White House plans to shut down Guantanamo and bring inmates to trial or send them to their countries of origin.
The pledge was a major element in Obama’s presidential campaign last year, along with an order to end officially sanctioned torture. Republicans have attacked the Democrat for what they say is a dangerous priority on human rights over national security.
But Attorney General Eric Holder said the transfer of Ghailani served justice and posed no threat to the United States.
“With his appearance in federal court today, Ahmed Ghailani is being held accountable for his alleged role in the bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the murder of 224 people,” Holder said in a statement.
“The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case,” Holder said. Ghailani faces 286 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, bomb and maim, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against US nationals, charges for which he could receive the death penalty.
(Excerpt) Read more at zimbio.com ...