Driver for bin Laden on trial
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — An FBI agent testifying at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial said interrogators did not advise detainees here of any rights because the military prison is dedicated to intelligence gathering, not law enforcement.
Agent Ali Soufan, an al-Qaida expert and star witness for the prosecution, said Tuesday the Guantanamo Bay Navy base is the only place in the world where he has not informed suspects of a right against self-incrimination.
"The way it was explained to us is Guantanamo Bay is an intelligence collection point," he said.
Defense lawyers asked the judge in Salim Hamdan's trial to throw out all the Guantanamo interrogations, arguing that intelligence-gathering sessions should not be used against him in court. But Judge Keith Allred, a Navy captain, ruled Monday that constitutional protections against self-incrimination do not apply to the man declared an "enemy combatant."
Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, is charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism. His lawyers have cast him as a low-level employee of the terrorist leader.
In opening arguments Tuesday, prosecutors said Hamdan helped bin Laden evade U.S. retribution after the Sept. 11 attacks and ferried weapons for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"You will not see evidence from the government that the accused ever fired a shot," said prosecutor and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Stone. "But what you will see is testimony regarding the accused's role in al-Qaida, how he became a member of al-Qaida and how he helped, facilitated and provided material support for that organization."
Two U.S. military officers testified that two surface-to-air missiles were in the car Hamdan was driving when Afghan forces captured him at a roadblock in November 2001.
