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Report: First Guantanamo prisoner headed for civilian trial in US
May 21, 2009, 6:12 GMT
Washington - An alleged al-Qaeda terrorist accused of participating in the deadly 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa is to be the first Guantanamo prison inmate sent to the United States for a civilian trial, The Washington Post reported Thursday on its website.
The newspaper cited a US Justice Department official speaking on the condition of anonymity as saying that Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani would face trial in a federal court in New York.
He has already been indicted in the deaths of more than 200 people, including mostly local Africans and 12 US citizens, in the bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi.
Ghailani would become the first prisoner from the detention camp at the US Navy base at Guantanmo Bay, Cuba, to be taken to US soil for trial.
US President Barack Obama, who has vowed to close the Guantanamo prison by January 2010, was scheduled to speak Thursday on the issue of terrorism detainees.
He has faced overwhelming opposition from US legislators who fear having Guantanamo inmates jailed in the United States while foreign governments have been reluctant to accept the detainees.
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