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August 07, 2008
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Thursday
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Sha’aban 4, 1429
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Split verdict in trial of Osama’s driver
GUANTANAMO BAY, Aug 6: A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict on Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life.
The Pentagon-selected jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days before convicting Salim Hamdan of supporting terrorism. He was cleared of the conspiracy charge.
Hamdan held his head in his hands and wept at the defense table after a Navy captain presiding over the jury read the sentence in a hilltop courtroom on this US Navy base.
Defence lawyers had feared a guilty verdict was inevitable, saying the tribunal system’s rules seemed designed to achieve convictions, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, Salim Hamdan’s Pentagon-appointed attorney.—AP
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