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Hearing for Guantanamo Prisoner Delayed
ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
June 20, 2006
SAN JUAN , Puerto Rico (AP) - The U.S. military suspended a pretrial hearing Monday at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base for a Canadian detainee accused of killing a U.S. Green Beret, saying base security personnel must first help investigate the recent deaths of three detainees.
Two Saudis and a Yemeni hanged themselves in their cells on June 10, according to the military. Their bodies were flown aboard a commercial charter jet Friday from the U.S. base in Cuba to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. They were the first reported detainee deaths at the prison since it opened in January 2002.
The pretrial hearing for Canadian detainee Omar Khadr was scheduled to begin June 26. The Toronto native is charged with murder and other crimes for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan and for planting mines targeting U.S. convoys.
Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, one of Khadr's defense attorneys, said he just returned on Wednesday from a three-week trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he searched for witnesses and gathered evidence. He and Nathan Whitling, Khadr's civilian attorney, said they could use the postponement to better prepare a defense, saying the prosecution has had more time.
``Those guys have had four years to prepare their case and are trying to get us to jump into trial after only four months,'' Whitling said in a phone interview from Edmonton, Canada. ``We're pleased about this additional time to prepare, because we'll need it.''
Vokey said his trip was a difficult one, particularly in Afghanistan.
``You have to travel with a whole lot of security,'' he said. ``The country is still a dangerous place. Communications are poor ... people move quite frequently. You're not sure if the people you're talking to are being forthright, and they may distrust Americans.''
A cloud of uncertainty also hangs over the GuantanamoBay hearings as the Supreme Court decides whether the Bush administration overstepped its authority in ordering military trials for suspected al-Qaida and Taliban militants. The court will rule before June 30.
The first military trials held by the United States since World War II are slated to begin in the fall. Khadr is one of 10 detainees charged with crimes. About 460 men are held at the isolated base in eastern Cuba.
``We're all waiting on what the decision is, and what the scope of the decision is,'' said Vokey.
The Office of Military Commissions said the postponement of pretrial hearings was being extended through July 7.
Office spokeswoman Maj. Jane Boomer said guards at Guantanamo bring detainees to and from the small courthouse and provide security during pretrial hearings.
Boomer said the office decided it was better to have the guards first assist in the investigations of the deaths of the detainees, whose family members have claimed the men were killed by Americans.
``The court sessions are a tremendous strain on security,'' Boomer said in a telephone interview from the Pentagon. ``The investigation of the recent suicides ... takes priority.''
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