First Guantanamo inmate transferred to U.S. for trial
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN -- The first detainee from the U.S. military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to arrive in the United States has been moved to New York City to face criminal charges in connection with the bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 that killed 224 people at the U.S. embassies in Africa.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national held at Guantanamo Bay since September 2006, was expected to appear in federal court on Tuesday. He will be the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to go on trial in a civilian U.S. court. Ghailani is charged with helping to buy a truck and oxygen and acetylene tanks used in the Tanzania bombing, and of loading boxes of TNT, detonators, and other equipment into the back of the truck in the weeks immediately before the bombing.

If convicted, Ghailani could face life imprisonment or the death penalty on many of the charges against him, according to the Justice Department.

U.S. President Barrack Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within one year. By January 22, 2010, the fate of some 240 remaining prisoners at Guantanamo has to be decided.

Members of Congress have objected to transferring any Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the U.S., saying it would put American security at risk even if they were jailed.

A European human rights watchdog has called on member states to welcome former detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The Council of Europe also pressed the U.S. to ensure other remaining detainees receive a fair trial for any alleged criminal activities.

So far some 50 detainees have been cleared for release but other nations have been reluctant to accept them.

An Algerian national has been taken in by France, while an Ethiopian-born British resident was returned to Britain.

Meanwhile, Canada on Friday refused to take 17 Chinese Muslims cleared for release from the Guantanamo Bay. Kory Teneycke, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper told AP that Canada has no interest in case of “Uighurs and other Guantanamo Bay detainees.”

Interestingly, Canadian born Omar Khadr, is the last Western detainee at Guantanamo Bay. Rights activists have been pressuring Mr. Harper to accept him back because of his Canadian citizenship and the fact that he was captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15.

However, after many appeals on behalf of Mr. Khadr, who is now 22, his parents have been unsuccessful so far and have walked out of courts disappointed. One option that has been discussed recently is in the sleepy town of Florence, in the state of Colorado. Florance is home to the maximum security prison called “supermax”.

The top-security inmates at supermax are only allowed out of their cells for one hour of physical activity daily. They are completely isolated from other inmates. No one has escaped from the prison since it opened in 1994, though two inmates were killed during a riot in April 2008 that raised concerns of overcrowding.

Supermax is almost maxed out, with only one bed to spare. Moving any detainees there would require expanding the 490-bed facility or transferring current prisoners elsewhere.

The locals think the town should be better known for its 20-plus antiques stores and restored Victorians than its lockups. If Guantanamo detainees do come to supermax, they fear, Florence could become an international symbol of American oppression.

“People will know about us all over the world,” said Jerry Draper, a retired schoolteacher. “What's wrong with leaving Guantanamo open?”

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