Anonymous ID: b08538 Sept. 25, 2018, 6:58 a.m. No.3177927   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Alleged al-Qaida war criminal recovering from spine surgery stalls Guantánamo hearing

 

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, CUBA

An Iraqi captive held at Guantánamo and accused of commanding al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan after 9/11 failed to show up at a hearing Monday, stalling progress toward the war crimes trial following a health setback from his fifth spine surgery in less than a year.

 

The no-show presented a quandary for Marine Lt. Col. Michael Libretto, the new judge in the case against Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, 57. At the war court, cases have not gone forward without the prisoner coming to the first day of a hearing, and Libretto scheduled this hearing to make his first war court appearance.

 

Civilian defense attorney Adam Thurschwell said Hadi, who says his real name is Nashwan al Tamir, suffered “severe back spasms” on four days last week “when he’s tried to sit up for any length of time, requiring him to lie down immediately.” In two instances, Thurschwell said, sitting up impaired his breathing.

 

Last week, after the first episode, Thurschwell asked to postpone this week’s hearing, “arguing that it would be an enormous waste of time and resources while putting Nashwan’s health at serious risk.”

 

 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article218922110.html