JURIST - Paper Chase: Pentagon files war crimes charges against two Kuwaitis at Guantanamo

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] announced Wednesday that it has filed new war crimes charges against two Kuwaiti men held at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Fouad Rabia, a US-educated aeronautical engineer suspected of running a supply depot at Tora Bora, and Fayiz Kandari, an alleged adviser to Osama bin Laden [JURIST news archive], were charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terror. The two men, who have spent over seven years in Guantanamo, are said to have the longest-running Guantanamo unlawful detention lawsuits pending in the US District Court in Washington. Rabia and Kandari now face a maximum of life in prison. The Miami Herald has more.

The Defense Department's filing follows a decision one day earlier by the Office of Military Commissions Convening Authority to dismiss charges without prejudice [press release; JURIST report] against five other Guantanamo detainees. Noor Uthman Mohammed, Binyam Mohammed, Sufyiam Barhoumi, Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi, and Jabran Said Bin al Qahtani remain in custody, and Chief Prosecutor Army Col. Lawrence Morris has appointed teams to consider whether to recharge each prisoner. Lawyers for Binyam Mohammed called the move a "farce" [Reprieve press release], reporting that they had been informed of plans to "charge [Mohammed] again within a month, after the election.”

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