Detainee Denies Ties to Al-Qaida “A Palestinian terror suspect once described by President Bush as a trusted deputy of Osama bin Laden told a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last month that he wasn’t a member of al-Qaida, had met bin Laden only once and that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were a violation of Islamic law. The detainee, Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, but better known as Abu Zubaydah, also claimed that he was tortured during the more than three years he was held in secret CIA detention before he was turned over to U.S. military authorities and flown to the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists last September.” (McClatchy Newspapers)Trial Opens in Florida for Padilla, 2 Others “More than a dozen prospective jurors were questioned Monday as jury selection began in the trial of Jose Padilla and two co-defendants accused of providing material support to terrorists. Judge Marcia G. Cooke of Federal District Court ruled that prosecutors could make reference to the Sept. 11 attacks. But Judge Cooke said they would not be allowed to suggest that Mr. Padilla, a Brooklyn-born American who was declared an enemy combatant by President Bush in 2002, and his co-defendants had been involved in the attacks.” (NY Times)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=181023