WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- War crimes trials against two detainees at Guantanamo Bay should proceed as soon as possible, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
The government was given the go-ahead last week by a federal appeals court regarding the trials of Salim Ahmed Hamdan and David Hicks. The decision reversed a ruling last November that halted the trials as violations of the U.S. Constitution and international law.
Hamdan, a Yemeni who was a driver for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and Hicks, an Australian captured while fighting for the Taliban, were being tried as "enemy combatants," meaning they were not accorded all rights guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions.
Rumsfeld, during an appearance Monday with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, said the trials should resume quickly, The New York Times reported.
The Pentagon is expected to begin trials against two other men. Like Hamden and Hicks, Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi have been charged with conspiracy to commit attack on civilians and terrorism, the Times said.
