Prosecutors for the U.S. government Monday tried to paint Yemeni Salim Hamdan, the former driver for Osama bin Laden, as an enabler for the head of al-Qaida, a report said.
His defense team, however, – as well as those who knew him, including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad, – said Hamdan was a low-level laborer, claiming “changing lug nuts and oil filters” hardly amount to war crimes.
Hamdan was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 with two missiles in the trunk of his vehicle and an AK-47. If convicted of conspiracy to support al-Qaida, a war crime under U.S. military code, he could receive a life sentence. Additionally, if Hamdan is sentenced to a longer term than the 9-month sentence for David Hicks, an Australian who trained with al-Qaida fighters, the entire tribunal system may come into question yet again.
If he is acquitted, however, or sentenced to a term less than the six years he has spent at Gauntanamo Bay, the United States could continue his detention as an “unlawful enemy combatant” indefinitely, or until the so-called war on terror comes to an end.
Government lawyers say Hamdan's role in the al-Qaida infrastructure was as the last line of defense for the terrorist leader. Defense officials countered that Hamdan, however, was largely cooperative with his captors and took U.S. forces on a guided tour of al-Qaida safe havens throughout Afghanistan, adding his role was that of a servant and not an accomplice.
“Hitler's driver was never charged with a war crime and it doesn't work that way today,” defense lawyer Joseph McMillan said.
