Gitmo Detainee To Be Tried In New York

The Justice Department announced today that Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who has been held in Guantanamo Bay and is accused of 1998 bombings in Africa, will be tried in NY. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "By prosecuting Ahmed Ghailani in federal court, we will ensure that he finally answers for his alleged role in the bombing of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. This administration is committed to keeping the American people safe and upholding the rule of law, and by closing Guantanamo and bringing terrorists housed there to justice we will make our nation stronger and safer," Ghailani, who is Tanzanian, was previously indicted in New York in 1998 for conspiring with Osama bin Laden; afterwards, he fled but was seized in 2004 and was, according to Reuters, "one of the 14 'high-value detainees' transferred to Guantanamo from secret CIA prisons in September 2006." He will be the first detainee to face a trial in civilian criminal court. In the meantime, President Obama is pressing on with his efforts to close Gitmo, though the Senate voted 90-6 against the shutdown.