Lawyers: Detainees mental health a barrier

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 26 (UPI) -- A U.S. judge is to hear arguments a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay cannot adequately prepare for his defense because of his mental health, lawyers said.

Attorneys for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who was once a driver for Osama bin Laden, say their client has been driven crazy by his confinement to a small prison cell for at least 22 hours a day, The New York Times reported Saturday.

"He will shout at us," said his military defense lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Brian L. Mizer. "He will bang his fists on the table."

Hamdan is the first terror detainee at the U.S. base on Cuba scheduled to be tried for war crimes.

His lawyers have asked his case be delayed until Hamdan is placed in less restrictive conditions at Guantanamo.

They argue their client cannot get a fair trial until he can focus on defending himself.

In more than six years of detention, Hamdan has had two phone calls to his family and no visits, the newspaper reported. Moreover, he has been disciplined for having a Snickers bar given to him by his lawyers and for possessing too many socks.