U.S. Can Continue Yemeni's Detention

[Coventina]

Source: Washington Post

A federal judge ruled yesterday that the government may continue to detain a 29-year-old Yemeni at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the government had met its burden in alleging that Ghaleb al-Bihani was an enemy combatant who supported al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The government said that Bihani stayed at Taliban and al-Qaeda guesthouses, trained at al-Qaeda-affiliated camps and "supported" the Taliban as a member of an Arab Brigade fighting unit.

Bihani's attorneys argued that their client was only a cook for the Taliban and never fired a weapon at U.S. forces. But Leon said that "helping prepare the meals" for Taliban forces was enough to justify Bihani's continued detention. Quoting from Napoleon, Leon said, "An army marches on its stomach."

Shereen J. Charlick and Reuben Camper Cahn, federal public defenders in California who represented Bihani, said they would appeal the ruling. "He's been locked up for seven-plus years on allegations of being a cook," Cahn said.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012803472.html