Osama's ex-driver now a Yemen cabbie

SANAA, Yemen, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden's former chauffeur says he is back to driving for a living following his return to his native Yemen.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan told the Toronto Star business is difficult given the lack of tourism in the capital of Sanaa and he sometimes doesn't make enough to cover the price he has to pay for use of the car.

But Hamdan says his life is a lot better than it was for seven years when he was locked up at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

"Everyone needs time to adjust," Hamdan said in an exclusive interview published by the Canadian newspaper Monday.

Hamdan was repatriated to Yemen eight months ago after a landmark legal battle in the United States that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Guantanamo detainees were still under the jurisdiction of civilian courts.

The Star said few people in Sanaa recognize Hamdan although his name is well known, and street-corner conversations among Yemenis often gravitate to relations between the West and the Muslim world.

Hamdan says he largely stays out of the debates and prefers not to talk about the details of his incarceration.