Bin Laden’s Driver on Trial
An American prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments on Monday in the first U.S. war crimes trial at Guantanamo against Yemeni captive Salim Hamdan that he ‘knowingly swore allegiance and gave vital services to “the world’s most dangerous terrorist’.”
Hamdan was Osama Bin Laden’s driver, and one of the first Al Qaeda suspects to be put on trial. He drove and protected OBL in Afghanistan, ‘knowing full well that his goals included murdering Americans, prosecutor John Murphy told the jury of six U.S. military officers who were to begin deliberating Hamdan’s fate on Monday.’
“He knew all of the key players surrounding and protecting al Qaeda,” Murphy said. “He knew that terror was going to occur before it happened.”
He was not just Bin Laden’s driver, he was also his bodyguard.
Hamdan was captured in 2001, in Afghanistan. He is now 38 years old. If found guilty of the charges brought against him - conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism - he may spend the rest of his life in an American prison.
Interestingly enough, Hamdan cannot truly win this case. The reason is simple; even if he is acquitted, the US says it has the right to hold him indefinitely due to his status as an ‘unlawful enemy combatant.’
The suspect himself denies being a member of Al Qaeda. He says that he was merely a driver, and that he decided to drive Bin Laden around because of the pay ($200 a month). This may sound plausible considering the poverty in Afghanistan - $200 being quite nice - but it does not make a whole lot of sense considering Osama Bin Laden’s security; someone who would not pledge allegiance to Bin Laden and join Al Qaeda would never, common sense dictates, be allowed to drive the organization’s leader.
