GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE: An aide to Osama Bin Laden who refused to defend himself at his Guantanamo war crimes trial was convicted of three terrorism-related charges and faced sentencing that could bring life in prison.
The jury of military officers at the second Guantanamo war crimes trial voted to convict Ali Hamza Al-Bahlul of 35 counts of conspiracy, solicitation to commit murder and providing material support to terrorism.
The 39-year-old Yemeni showed no emotion, sitting calmly at the defense table as the verdict was read at the isolated US military base in eastern Cuba following a lopsided weeklong trial in which the prisoner did not allow his lawyer to mount a defense.
Al-Bahlul was convicted of 17 counts of conspiracy, eight counts of solicitation to commit murder and 10 counts of providing material support for terrorism. Each count could bring life in prison.
The jury dismissed one count of conspiracy and one count of providing material support for terrorism.
Sentencing was to follow a post-trial hearing that included testimony from the father of a sailor killed in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole — which was featured in a video that the military says Al-Bahlul produced to train and inspire Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan.
