Khartoum officially notified of trial of Sudanese suspect in Guantanamo
KHARTOUM, Feb 29 (AFP) — Sudan’s government has received official notification that a Sudanese national held at the navy base in Guantanamo will stand trial in a US military tribunal, state Omdurman Radio reported Sunday.
The charge d’affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Washington, Khidir Haroun, was quoted by the radio as saying the US State Department gave him assurances that the trial of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi would be fair.
The Pentagon said last week that Qosi and Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul of Yemen, both former bodyguards of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, had been charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes and would face a military trial.
These amounted to the first legal moves against the hundreds of detainees at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Haroun said the State Department told him a lawyer would be appointed to defend Qosi, though trial procedures did not prevent the suspect’s family from naming one, according to the radio.
The embassy is maintaining contact with the US authorities to obtain more information and to ensure a fair trial, he said.
The charge d’affaires said Sudanese government delegates who returned to Khartoum after a recent visit to Guantanamo, where they met with Qosi and the 11 other Sudanese detainees held there, would discuss the matter further here.
The delegates will discuss with the Sudanese justice authorities, the foreign ministry and Qosi’s family how to guarantee a fair trial for Qosi, including having a special lawyer appointed to defend him, he said.
Haroun said the US notification did not mention any date for the trial but added that US media speculated it would be held after June.
Contacts were underway to resolve the fate of the remaining 11 Sudanese detainees, according to Haroun, clarifying that none of the dozen Sudanese detainees had been freed.
On February 15, Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said the US authorities had informed his government that two Sudanese had been freed from Guantanamo and negotiations were underway for the release of the remaining 10 detainees.