Osama driver 'helped US in hunt for bin Laden'

A one-time driver for Osama bin Laden helped the FBI try to track down his boss after being captured in Afghanistan, his former interrogators testified.

Salim Hamdan led agents to the al-Qaida chief’s compounds in Kandahar and mapped out his movements among safehouses, training camps and other remote corners of Afghanistan in the month following the September 11 attacks, FBI special agent Robert Fuller said at a pre-trial hearing.

The US military is now preparing to use the interrogations against Hamdan at the first US war crimes trial since World War II. The Yemeni prisoner faces a maximum life sentence if convicted of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.

Hamdan’s Pentagon-appointed attorney, Navy Lieutenant Commander. Brian Mizer, said the US is not sufficiently taking into account the help that Hamdan provided following his capture.

“It’s awfully suspicious for someone who is a hard-core al Qaida member as prosecutors claim,” he told reporters.

One interrogator from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Michael St Ours, said Hamdan acknowledged being close enough to bin Laden to know he was planning a major operation a week before the September 11 attacks.

“He told that us after 9/11 took place, he asked bin Laden if that was the operation he was talking about, to which he said Yes,” Mr St Ours said.

Hamdan, whose trial is scheduled to begin next week, was captured by Afghan forces at a roadblock in November 2001 and turned over to the US, which quickly realised his value in the hunt for bin Laden.

He drew maps identifying key locations including a guesthouse frequented by al-Qaida members, according to testimony. Hamdan’s assistance continued after he arrived at Guantanamo in May 2002.

“I was trying to gain information from an individual who could help us,” said Mr St Ours, who questioned Hamdan three times the month he arrived in Cuba.