Bin Laden's driver could be free in 5 months

2008-08-08 14:54:11 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Osama bin Laden's driver may be free in just five months after a U.S. military jury gave Salim Hamdan a surprisingly light sentence, according to media reports Friday.

The decision came Thurday despite the prosecutors' request for at least a 30-year sentence.

Hamdan's sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served since being charged at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the 30 years to life prosecutors wanted.

What will happen to Hamdan once his sentence is served is still uncertain, since the U.S. military has said it won't release anyone who still represents a threat.

The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, said Hamdan, who is from Yemen, would likely be eligible for the same administrative review process as other Guantanamo prisoners.

But pentagon spokesman Jeffrey Gordon said he could not speculate whether Hamdan will be released later this year or remain imprisoned as an "enemy combatant."

Defense lawyers said they expect Hamdan will be let go in five months. "It was all for show if Mr. Hamdan does not go home in December," said civilian defense attorney Charles Swift, who hugged Hamdan after the jurors left the courtroom.

Hamdan thanked the jurors for the sentence and repeated his apology for having served bin Laden.

"I would like to apologize one more time to all the members and I would like to thank you for what you have done for me," Hamdan told the panel of six U.S. military officers, who were hand-picked by the Pentagon for the first U.S. war crimes trial in a half-century.

(Agencies)

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