U.S. Drops Charges Against "20th Hijacker"

Pentagon Won't Try Mohammed al-Qahtani, Who Was Allegedly Involved In Sept. 11 Plot

(AP)  The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent.

But in reviewing the case, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, decided to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani and proceed with the arraignment for the other five, said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, the Saudi's military lawyer.

Crawford dismissed the charges Friday without prejudice, meaning they can be filed again later, but the defense only learned about it Monday, Broyles told The Associated Press.

The attorney said he could not comment on the reasons for the dismissal until discussing the case with lawyers for the other five defendants. Officials previously said al-Qahtani had been subjected to a harsh interrogation authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, confirmed the case was proceeding against the five defendants and that their arraignment will be within 30 days of the charges being served at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Gordon declined further comment since the Office of Military Commissions had not yet released the formal announcement about the legal developments.

The five defendants include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the terrorist attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people, and Ramzi Binalshibh, who is said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and al Qaeda leaders. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all of them.

Their trial is the first capital case thus far before the military tribunals at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds about 270 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al Qaeda and the Taliban. The military has said it plans to prosecute about 80 prisoners in the first U.S. military war crimes tribunals since World War II.

Authorities have said they plan to broadcast the trials to military bases in the United States so relatives of the victims of the attacks can see the proceedings.

Critics of the tribunals have faulted a rule that allows judges to decide whether to allow evidence that may have been obtained with "coercion." U.S. authorities have acknowledged that Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding by CIA interrogators and that al-Qahtani was treated harshly at Guantanamo.

Al-Qahtani last fall recanted a confession he said he made after he was tortured and humiliated at Guantanamo.

The alleged torture, which he detailed in a written statement, included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel.

The U.S. has alleged that al-Qahtani, who military records show is about 28, barely missed becoming the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001. The Saudi was denied entry into the country by immigration agents at the airport in Orlando, Florida.

At the time, he had more than US$2,400 in cash, no return plane ticket and lead hijacker Mohamed Atta was waiting for him, the military has said.

Separately Monday, Gordon said the Pentagon has not decided whether to appeal a ruling that ousted a top legal official from a detainee case scheduled to become the first to go to trial at Guantanamo Bay.

In a ruling last week, a military judge at Guantanamo found that Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser for the tribunals, lacks neutrality and should not participate in the case against a Yemeni who is a former driver for Osama bin Laden. His trial is set for June 2.

[inventagod2]

''inventigod and the rest of the loonies, there are fools and then there are fools like you who raise that bar.
Posted by notblue at 02:02 PM : May 13, 2008''

Some have learned from history that the American military cannot always be trusted, and administrations lie, and are corrupt.
There is nothing about 9/11 that does not stink.
There is nothing about Iraq that does not stink.
I believe we are being lied to.
There was motive, and there was planning.
There was greed.
The Patriot Act was conveniently in the wings...

[hermitdave]

The whole situation at Club Gitmo should be a skit on Sat. Nite Live if it were not for the fact that real humans are being tortured and held without charges by a country that used to believe in freedom. My guess is there were never any charges in the first place. Nothing valid anyway. This is a black mark on all humans who believe in freedom.

[notblue]

inventigod and the rest of the loonies, there are fools and then there are fools like you who raise that bar.

[newsjunky5]

"He is an accessory to the crime. I find it wrong to drop the charges."
------------------------
Two points here:
1)The evidence against him was extracted with torture. This is unreliable. You could be tortured, and to get it to stop, might agree with your torturers, that you too, were responsible. You don''t know how tough you''d be, without that experience.

2) The charges were dropped "without prejudice." That means they can still prosecute him later, and I''m sure they will, but until then, he may turn informant, or more may be learned about his guilt.

[newsjunky5]

I thought this guy would be the "21st Hijacker," as Zacharias Moussaoui was already tried in Virginia as the "20th." Can''t these guys even count? No wonder the bad guys pulled off an effective attack costing only the price of 19 one-way plane tickets.

[a-ji]

He is an accessory to the crime. I find it wrong to drop the charges.

[closethippy1]

I think if there''s any one who''s going to be very upset at the release of this man it''s the Palestinians who suffer a punishment a hundred times worse than this man should get.
This fellow was caught with cash in hand, a one way ticket from Saudi Arabia and freaking Mohammad Atta, the master hijacker of 9/11 himself, waiting for his Saudi friend at the gate.
A Palestinian gives an official the wrong look at any US airport and he gets his home taken away, courtesy Israel and their "war on terror".
This doesn''t make sense, it''s not fair, and it''s what gives the US the reputation of not knowing what is doing because the only thing it cares about is to please its financial friends like the Saudis.
They''ve bought each other out with all that oil money flowing between them.

[dinkydog1]

In the end we will see that Bush and his administration have done more harm to the US than all of the terrorist.

[inventagod2]

This administration is sticking to the absurd conspiracy theory that centers on a cave dweller in Afghanistan overpowering the mighty American military on 9/11.
There will come a time when we discover that The Cheney Gang of corporate NeoCons planned and executed 9/11 themselves, and covered up the crime with the CIA''s assistance.
The atrocity screams ''Inside Job''!

[jkhagemann]

"THERE IS BUT ONE GOD"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by dumbshun at 06:26 AM : May 13, 2008

Dumbshun you may not be as dumb as your name suggests. There is only one God, however you can call him whatever you want, God, Alla, Higher Power, Spam, Money, The Wind... doesn''t matter, as long as you believe. Thats the problem with religion, each religion thinks they are the only one that has the truth. Christians are the worst in this category. Most American Christions are the most untrustworthey human beings on the earth.

[abbe91]

"17 Saudis, one Bahranian, and one Qatari are the alleged hijacker group, but the US invades Iraq and Afghanistan, and now threatens Iran.
Posted by brianbwb at 03:33 AM : May 13, 2008"

Indeed. On the other hand we keep sending money to Musharraf, one of the main sources of WMD proliferation, much more dangerous than Iran. Bush wanted to give our seaports management to Dubai, involved in financing 911 and Giuliani had good clients in Qatar, where KSM found refuge for a while.

[abbe91]

"in an effort to balance the perception.
Posted by brianbwb at 04:33 AM : May 13, 2008"

Maybe avoid to use the word perception ...

[bluestardad]

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!


Lawyers File War Crimes Charges Against Rumsfeld And Others
In German Court

By Michael Ratner

29 November, 2006
Revolution


On November 14, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the International Federation for Human Rights, Germany''s Republican Attorneys'' Association, and other groups and individuals filed a formal complaint with the German Federal Prosecutor to open an investigation and, ultimately, a criminal prosecution of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other major U.S. officials. The complaint argues that Rumsfeld and other high-ranking civilian and military officials named as defendants in the case have committed war crimes, and in particular torture, against prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Following is an interview Revolution did with Michael Ratner, president of the CCR, who was among those in Germany on November 14 to file the complaint.

[brianbwb-2009]

"THERE IS BUT ONE GOD" Posted by dumbshun

And how do you know this?

[brianbwb-2009]

"MY "UNIFORM" IS READY, my mind is "TUNED" as FAIR, BUT FIRM, to be nice + to the good people, but to GO AFTER the EVIL-DOERS WITH ALL I HAVE GOT! NO PUZZY-FOOTING TO THEM!" Posted by dumbshun

Much talk, no action. You have your flight booked?

[missingamerica]

lollll...not that the Republicans are likely to support such an idea...you don''t have to dig very deep in some of the more prominent Republican families to find a certain lack of...hmmm...shall we say "empathy"?

If it weren''t for the Middle East''s oil, I daresay they''d be standing in line to cut our ties to Israel...

[missingamerica]

(P.S. We could use the boost in our senses of national pride and self-preservation that 7 million+ Israelis would represent, too.

They would help to counterbalance the staggering number of Republicans who think anything that makes them money - even if it cripples the nation - is okie-dokie.)

[missingamerica]

Let me see...in 2006 and 2007, they were estimating that there are 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States....hmmmm...how many people live in Israel? Well, son of a gun...7,282,000.

Here is a thought:

We throw 7,282,000 illegal immigrants out (they can have a lottery to see who gets to stay), transport the entire population of Israel over to here, and close Israel down.

That should be acceptable under Judaism; how can a people who profess to worship the "one true God" and who vociferously condemn the worship of false idols argue otherwise?

Or is there some sort of escape clause in the "one true God and no false idols" rule that permits the worship of buildings, walls, and pieces of land?

lolll...yah, I know it will not fly - there are too many Christians who worship those same kinds of material things - and Muslims, too.

And so humanity must continue to provide the sacrifices the three religions rightiously and piously demand for the blood that they use to consecrate their false idols.

[missingamerica]

huh...insufficient coffee..just enough typos to be only marginally legible...

[missingamerica]

YOU ARE THE ONE WHO FINDS EXCUSES OF TERRORIST ISLAMIC JIHADIS CALLING FOR DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL AND AMERICA! WHAT YOU CALL IT?......I CALL THAT A SUPPORT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE JEWISH PEOPLE

YOUR OWN POST SHOW IT ALL!

Posted by dumbshun at 04:50 AM : May 13, 2008

Let me see...in 2006 and 2007, they were estimating that there are 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States....hmmmm...how many people live in Israel? Well, son of a gun...7,282,000.

Here is a thought:

We throw 7,282,000 illegal immigrants out (they can have a lottery to see who gets to stay), transport the entire population of Israel over to here, and close Israel down.

That should be acceptable under Judaism; how can a people who profess to worship the "one true God" and who vociferously condemn the worsh of false idols argue otherwise?

Or is there some sort of escape clause in the "one true God and no false idols" rule that permits the worship of buildings, walls, and pieces of land?

lolll...yah, I know it won''t fly - there are too many Christians who worship those same kinds of material things - and Muslims, too.

And so humanity must continue to provide the blood the three religions rightiously and piously demand for the sacrifices that use to consecrate their false idols.