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Bin Laden aide to be charged
06/03/2008 15:31 - (SA)
Jane Sutton
Miami - The Pentagon on Wednesday
approved war crimes charges against a Guantanamo prisoner from
Sudan who is accused of acting as a bodyguard and driver for
Osama bin Laden.
Military prosecutors have recently picked up the pace in
their effort to try 60 to 80 captives on terrorism charges at
the Guantanamo Bay US naval base in Cuba.
Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi, 47, is one of a dozen
prisoners facing charges in the widely criticized Guantanamo
court system. He is accused of providing material support for
terrorism and conspiring with al-Qaeda to attack and murder
civilians and destroy property.
The Pentagon official overseeing the Guantanamo war court
approved charges on Wednesday, clearing the way for his trial
to begin within 120 days.
Provided 'services and supplies'
Qosi was born in Khartoum, a one-time base for bin Laden,
and is alleged to have served as a guard, driver and logistics
operative for the al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan from 1996 to
2001.
The US military alleges that Qosi provided services and
supplies for bin Laden's "Star of Jihad" compound in Jalalabad
and for another compound near Kandahar before joining an al-Qaeda group that launched mortars in Afghanistan from 1998 to
2001.
Qosi is accused of helping bin Laden and his family flee to
the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan after the US-led
invasion to oust al-Qaeda and its Taliban government protectors
following the Sept. 11 attacks. He would face life in prison if
convicted.
The Pentagon is still reviewing charges that prosecutors
filed last month against the alleged planner of the September 11
attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and five other Guantanamo
prisoners accused of direct involvement in the hijacked plane
attacks that killed nearly 3 000 people in 2001. They would
face execution if convicted.
- Reuters
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