Jury deliberates in US trial of bin Laden's driver

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

US NAVAL BASE GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (AFP) — A jury began deliberations Monday in the trial of Osama bin Laden's former driver, the first inmate at Guantanamo to face a full-scale trial before the special military tribunals created by President George W. Bush.

Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni national about 40 years old, is accused of conspiracy and material support to terrorism, and faces a possible sentence of life in prison if at least four military officers among a jury of six finds him guilty.

A verdict could be handed down as early as Monday afternoon in the trial, underway at the prison camp on a US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since July 21.

In its closing argument, the prosecution described Hamdan as a facilitator of Al-Qaeda and an enthusiastic bin Laden...