NEW YORK – The first suspect transferred from Guantánamo military prison to face a US civilian trial has been found not guilty on all but one charge in the 1998 African embassy bombings.
This is a setback to President Barack Obama’s plans for trying terrorism suspects.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani (36), a Tanzanian from Zanzibar, had been accused of conspiring in the 1998 al-Qaeda bomb attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.
The jury, which deliberated for nearly five days, found him guilty on Wednesday of one relatively minor charge of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives. He faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life.
US attorney Preet Bharara said he would seek life in prison for Ghailani at his sentencing on January 25th.
Ghailani was cleared of 276 murder and attempted murder counts, along with four other conspiracy charges. It was a rare defeat for the US attorney’s office in New York, which has a near perfect record of success in prosecuting terrorism cases.
Ghailani’s trial was being watched closely as a test of Mr Obama’s approach to handling the 174 terrorism suspects held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a self-professed mastermind of the September 11th attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda.
Mr Obama has vowed to close the US prison at Guantánamo amid international condemnation of the treatment of detainees, but he has run into political resistance at home.
His administration has adopted an approach that favours military tribunals in some cases for terrorism suspects and civilian trials in others.
Justice department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “We respect the jury’s verdict and are pleased that Ahmed Ghailani now faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a potential life sentence for his role in the embassy bombings.”
Most Republicans say all terrorism suspects should be tried in military tribunals.
“This tragic verdict demonstrates the absolute insanity of the Obama administration’s decision to try al-Qaeda terrorists in civilian courts,” said Peter King, who is in line to chair the House of Representatives homeland security committee when his party takes control of the chamber in January.
Mr King said last week that one of his main priorities as committee chairman would be stopping Mr Obama’s plans to transfer Guantánamo detainees to the United States to stand trial in civilian courts.
The Obama administration has backed off a proposal to prosecute Mohammed and other accused September 11th plotters in a criminal court, but has not revealed new prosecution plans.
Prosecutors in the Ghailani case were dealt a blow before the trial started when the judge refused to let a key witness testify, basing his decision on protecting the US constitution from admitting coerced testimony.
From the outset, prosecutors said they would not use any statements Ghailani might have made while in CIA custody after his arrest in Pakistan in July 2004, acknowledging those statements were likely to have been “coerced”.
However, the judge said the government would not have been able to find the key witness without those statements. – (Reuters)