U.S. Charges Yemeni Described as Bin Laden Bodyguard

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has charged a Yemeni described as a bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden with conspiracy, making him the fourth Guantanamo prisoner to face trial before a military tribunal, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, one of 594 prisoners held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit murder, attacks on civilians and terrorism.

The charge sheet does not refer to any killing or other specific act of violence committed by Hamdan.

The U.S. government will not seek the death penalty against him, said Maj. Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman.

Hamdan's case was referred to a tribunal -- formally called a military commission -- of five U.S. officers, but no trial date was set, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. military commissions, the first of their kind since World War II, have faced criticism from human rights groups who argue the rules are rigged to hamstring defense lawyers and produce convictions.

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, the military lawyer assigned by the Pentagon to defend Hamdan, filed a lawsuit in April in federal court in Seattle arguing the tribunals represent an unconstitutional expansion of executive branch powers.

PERSONAL DRIVER

The Pentagon described Hamdan, held for more than two years at Guantanamo, as a member of al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and said he first met with bin Laden in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1996.

The charge sheet said Hamdan became a bodyguard and personal driver for the Saudi-born al Qaeda chief, serving in those roles until his capture in Afghanistan in November 2001 in military operations launched by the United States following the Sept. 11 attacks.

It said Hamdan received weapons training at an al Qaeda training camp and drove or accompanied bin Laden to camps, news conferences and lectures.

The charge sheet also accused Hamdan of delivering weapons, ammunition and other supplies to al Qaeda members, and picking up weapons from Taliban warehouses for use by the head of al Qaeda's security committee.

The government says Hamdan is an "unprivileged belligerent" who, unlike a uniformed soldier in a nation's army, does not have the right to kill another person on the battlefield.

THREE OTHERS CHARGED

The same tribunal that will hear his case will handle the trials of the other three charged Guantanamo prisoners.

Australian David Hicks was charged in June with three counts: conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul of Yemen and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi of Sudan were charged in February with a single count each of conspiracy to commit war crimes.

No trial dates have been set in those cases.

Since January 2002, the United States has held prisoners captured in what President Bush calls the global war on terrorism at the remote Guantanamo base. Most were seized in Afghanistan.

Bush has designated 15 prisoners as eligible for trials before military tribunals. The charge against Hamdan was brought 12 months after Bush first designated him as eligible for trial.