President Obama Orders Guantanamo Trial Of Canadian Halted

[BurtWorm]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/01/21/washington/ne...

By REUTERS
Published: January 21, 2009

Filed at 10:07 a.m. ET


GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Hours after taking office, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases and a judge granted the request on Wednesday in the case against a young Canadian.

When defense lawyers did not oppose the move, a judge froze the proceedings against Canadian Omar Khadr, who was captured at age 15 and is accused of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan.

Another judge was expected to rule as early as Wednesday in the death penalty case against five prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 hijacked plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Obama's order to the prosecutors was issued several hours after his swearing-in on Tuesday and if all the continuances are granted it would halt proceedings against 21 prisoners.

Prosecutors said it was "in the interests of justice" to freeze the trials until about May 20 to give the new administration time to evaluate the cases and decide what forum best suits any future prosecution....