U.S. high court nixes Guantanamo appeals

WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court decided, in a 6-3 vote, not to hear appeals from two terror suspects facing military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The ruling means the tribunal for Yemen-born Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, will continue, and one scheduled for 20-year-old Canadian Omar Khadr will begin soon, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Hamdan's appeal was attempting to persuade the Supreme Court to allow him to bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which ruled recently against Khadr and other detainees contesting their imprisonment as "enemy combatants" with virtually no access to the civilian judicial system.

Justices David Souter, Ruth Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer voted to hear the appeals but rules require at least four of nine justices must agree to hear a case.

There are about 385 prisoners at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo. Only Hamdan and Khadr have been selected to face the tribunals.