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Denying Crime, Cuba Prisoner Says He Drove for bin Laden

A military defense lawyer assigned to defend one of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, said on Wednesday that his client was a driver for Osama bin Laden but was not a member of Al Qaeda or the Taliban — or guilty of any crime. The lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, who represents Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a 34-year-old Yemeni who may be one of the first to be put on trial before a military commission, said he met with his client over the last two weekends in a special holding area at Guantánamo. “He freely admits that he was employed by Osama bin Laden,” Commander Swift said. “His job was driving agricultural workers on bin Laden’s farm and sometimes driving Osama himself.” But Commander Swift said: “He is not a member of Al Qaeda and not a member of the Taliban and is not a terrorist. He denies all of those things.” Full Story