Pentagon official barred from Guantanamo trial

A military judge has disqualified a Pentagon legal official from participating in the Guantanamo war crimes trial against a former driver for Osama bin Laden, saying he lacks independence.

The judge ruled yesterday that the military must appoint a replacement to Air Force Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser to the military tribunals, before next month’s scheduled trial of Salim Hamdan at the US Navy base in Cuba.