January 01, 2009	Thursday	Muharram 03, 1430

WASHINGTON, Dec 31: Two Guantanamo Bay detainees, including a Yemeni man accused of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, were correctly labelled as enemy combatants and were being held lawfully at the US prison in Cuba, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

It was the latest ruling by US District Judge Richard J. Leon, who last month ordered five Algerians freed from the naval prison because the evidence against them was flimsy. That ruling led to the first court-ordered prison transfer from Guantanamo Bay.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Leon said Moath Hamza Amhed Al Alwi, of Tunisia, and Hisham Sliti, of Yemen, were being held lawfully. Both men were captured in Afghanistan, where prosecutors say they stayed with Al Qaeda supporters.

The cases are among those that President-elect Barack Obama’s administration will soon inherit. Obama has said he wants to close Guantanamo Bay. His incoming administration is working on a plan in which some detainees would be released and others would be charged in US courts.

Al Alwi is accused of training with Al Qaeda men and serving as a bodyguard for Bin Laden. Lawyers for both men deny their clients did anything wrong.

There is no evidence in the court ruling that either man took up arms against US forces.—AP