Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul (Arabic: علي حمزة أحمد سليمان البهلول) is a Yemeni citizen and alleged media producer for al-Qaeda.[1] He is being held in extrajudicial detention in the United States at Guantanamo Bay. In February, 2004, he was named in documents for the first military commissions to be held for detainees. The U.S. alleges that he produced recruitment videos for al-Qaida as well as serving as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. He is alleged to have made a video celebrating the U.S.S. Cole attack and to have tried to set up satellite television for bin Laden on September 11, 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Name missing from the official list
On May 15, 2006, to comply with a court order from US District Court Justice Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense released what they described as a full list of all the Guantanamo detainees who had been held in military custody. Al Bahhlul is one of the detainees known to have been held in Guantanamo whose name is missing from this official list.
He was indicted along with Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi.
Lieutenant Commander Philip Sundel, his first military defense attorney, described difficulty getting a security clearance for a translator to talk to his client.[2] Consequently, six months after al Bahlul had been charged, he still had not had a real opportunity to discuss his case with him when he and other defense attorneys challenged the lack of fundamental justice of the commissions.
Sundel told CBS News: "There's virtually no chance he can get a fair trial[3]"
Al Bahlul asked Peter Brownback, the President of the commissions, if he could represent himself.[4]
Some press reports have explained that Al Bahlul's case is going forward, while the proceedings against the other three detainees to have been charged have been postponed, pending the result of the Supreme Court's consideration of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, due to Al Bahlul's insistence that he represent himself.
Al Bahlul's most recent military lawyer is Major Thomas Fleener.[5] Fleener has called the commissions a "wholly illegitimate process".
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Commission Transcripts, Exhibits, and Allied Papers
- United States of America v. Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul -- motion for docketing (.pdf), US Department of Defense, July 27, 2004
[edit] References
- ^ Guantanamo -- A Holding Cell In War on Terror: Prison Represents a Problem That's Tough to Get Out Of, Washington Post, May 2, 2004
- ^ Gitmo Detainee: I Am Al Qaeda, CBS News, August 26, 2004
- ^ Osama Driver Arraigned At Gitmo, CBS News, August 25, 2004
- ^ Third Military Commission Interrupted by Yemeni Detainee Request, US Department of Defense, August 26, 2004
- ^ Guantanamo trials to start, Special Broadcasting Service, January 11, 2006
