First Gitmo Detainee Arrives in US for Trial

Ahmed Ghailani to be tried for bombing US embassies
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 9, 2009 6:06 AM CDT
First Gitmo Detainee Arrives in US for Trial
In this photo reviewed by the U.S. military, a guard stands in a cell block at the Camp Five detention facility on Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, Sunday, May 31, 2009.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, Pool)

The first Guantanamo Bay detainee has landed on US soil, landing in New York to face trial on charges of bombing US embassies, the Justice Department said today. Ahmed Ghailani arrived in the early morning, to be held in law enforcement custody until his trial in federal court in lower Manhattan; his first court appearance is expected later today.

Ghailani's trial will be an important test case for the Obama administration's plan to close Guantanamo in seven months and bring some suspects to trial. Ghailani was indicted in 1998 for the al-Qaeda bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, attacks which killed more than 224 people, including 12 Americans. He was categorized as a high-value detainee after he was captured in Pakistan in 2004 and was transferred to Guantanamo two years later. (More trial stories.)

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