GUANTANAMO BAY US NAVAL BASE, Aug 24 (AFP) - A driver for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden appeared before a military commission here Tuesday at the start of the first military trials resulting from the United States' war on terror.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a 34-year-old Yemeni, was the first of four detainees at the special detention camp for Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba who will be arraigned at hearings this week.
David Hicks, an Australian believed to be the only westerner in the camp, will appear before the commission on Wednesday.
Hamdan, with a moustache and short hair, wore traditional clothes with a western jacket for the hearing. He joked with his military lawyer Lieutentant Commander Charlie Swift before the hearing was called to order.
None of the four inmates in this week's hearings will face the death penalty, but they could be jailed for life if found guilty. Legal and human rights activists have condemned the military commissions as unfair.
Hamdan, whose defence team is also leading a legal battle against the commissions in US civilian courts, is charged with conspiring with bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders to attack civilians, commit murder and terrorism and destroy property.
Swift, Hamdan's military-appointed defence counsel, has said the Yemeni admits being bin Laden's driver but denies being a member of Al-Qaeda or taking part in any of the planning for attacks carried out by the terrorist network.