Young detainees appear at Guantanamo hearings

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Hearings opened Wednesday for two of the youngest detainees held at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an observer with Amnesty International said.

Canadian Omar Khadr and Afghan national Mohammed Jawad were both teenagers when they were arrested in Afghanistan and eventually sent to Guantanamo Bay. Their separate hearings began around 9:00 am (1300 GMT) with both detainees appearing before the tribunal.

Khadr, now 21 and 15 at the time of his capture in 2002, faces a full trial in October on charges he threw a hand grenade that killed a US soldier.

His preliminary hearing on Wednesday was adjourned without any witnesses being called, and was due to resume later in the day, Amnesty observer Michael Bochenek told AFP.

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