US restarts Gitmo trials of 9/11 suspects

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s decision to resume military trials for detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will open the door for the prosecution there of several suspected 9/11 conspirators, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Obama’s order, which reverses his move two years ago to halt new trials, has re-ignited arguments over the legality of the military commissions, despite ongoing US efforts to reform the hotly debated system.

But fierce congressional opposition to trying Mohammed and other Guantanamo detainees in the US left Obama with few options. And it forced him to reluctantly retreat, at least for now, from his promise to shut the prison down.

A handful of detainees have been charged in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, including Mohammed. But the charges were dismissed following Obama’s decision to halt military commissions in January 2009.

Administration officials declined to discuss the potential prosecution of Mohammed or the other detainees. But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Guantanamo is a safe location for such a trial.

Guantanamo has been a major political and national security headache for the president since he took office promising to close the prison within a year, a deadline that came and went without Obama setting a new one. The president and his top defence leaders all emphasised their preference for trials in federal civilian courts, and his administration blamed congressional meddling for closing off that avenue.

“I strongly believe that the American system of justice is a key part of our arsenal in the war against al-Qaida and its affiliates, and we will continue to draw on all aspects of our justice system — including (federal) courts — to ensure that our security and our values are strengthened,” Obama said.

The first Guantanamo trial likely to proceed would involve Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Al-Nashiri, a Saudi of Yemeni descent, has been imprisoned at Guantanamo since 2006.

Defence officials have said that of around 170 detainees at Guantanamo, about 80 are expected to face trial by military commission.

The White House reiterated its commitment to eventually close Guantanamo — which is on a US Navy base on an isolated corner of Cuba — and said Obama’s actions were in pursuit of that goal.

Critics of the military commission system dealing with the detainees at Guantanamo, contend that suspects are not given some of the most basic protections afforded people prosecuted in US courts. That situation, critics say, serves as a recruitment tool for terrorists.