Detainee can seek al-Qaida testimony

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 30 (UPI) -- A U.S. military judge has ruled that Osama bin Laden's driver will be allowed to send a note to alleged senior al-Qaida leaders also held at Guantanamo Bay.

Navy Capt. Keith Allred ruled Wednesday that there was no apparent threat to national security from allowing Salim Hamdan to write to the segregated high-security prisoners and asking them to submit written testimony to bolster his defense.

Hamdan faces trial in June on charges of being an al-Qaida conspirator. His trial would be the first to be held before a military commission with U.S. officers acting as the jury.

The Miami Herald said Hamdan boycotted Wednesday's hearing, missing court for the first time in four years.

Allred said allowing Hamdan to solicit testimony from alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other prisoners held in the segregated Camp 7 area of Guantanamo might convince him to attend future sessions.