Judge Orders Gitmo Detainee Returned to Afghanistan

(NEWSER) - A Guantanamo inmate recently released to his native Afghanistan after almost 7 years of detention plans to sue the US for damages, the AP reports. Mohammed Jawad is considered one of the youngest prisoners held at the Cuban base—he claims he was 12 at the time he was captured, though the Justice Department maintains he was 17. “I was an innocent child when they put me in prison,” says Jawad, who claims he was tortured there. More»

Al-Qaeda supporter goes straight to prison

(NEWSER) - After five years in custody at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks is back in his native Australia, where the convicted Al-Qaeda supporter will spend the next seven months in a maximum-security prison. His family and other supporters spent years campaigning for his release before Hicks pleaded guilty in March to providing material support to a terrorist organization. More»

Negotiations near breakthrough, US officials say

(NEWSER) - After many months of secretive negotiations, peace talks between the US and the Taliban are at a turning point, reports Reuters , which cites senior US officials speaking under condition of anonymity. The US is considering transferring Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Afghan custody in return for concessions from the Taliban, possibly including a denunciation of terrorism and a willingness to enter talks with Hamid Karzai's government, the officials say. More»

When it comes to resettling prisoners, others want US to go first

(NEWSER) - Two years ago yesterday, President Obama pledged to close the prison camps at Guantánamo Bay within one year. So why are they still open? Much of the blame falls on Congress, the Miami Herald reports. Because Congress won’t allow any of the captives—even those considered low-risk—to resettle in the US, other countries are similarly unwilling, the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables reveal. That, coupled with Obama's resurrection of Gitmo military trials , makes it seem unlikely the prison will close any time soon. More»

Plea bargain bars teen al-Qaeda fighter from 40-year sentence

(AP) - The long-running case of a onetime teenage al-Qaeda fighter is over, with a US military judge sentencing Omar Khadr to eight more years in custody for war crimes. The sentence was handed down yesterday under a plea bargain in which the young Canadian, now 24, admitted to five war crimes charges, including killing a US soldier in Afghanistan. More»