Charges dropped against USS Cole bombing suspect
(Read article summary)The move, which brings the tribunal into compliance with Obama's Guantánamo stay order, allows charges to be reinstated later.
The Pentagon has dismissed charges against a suspect being held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Saudi Arabia.
Reuters reports that the dismissal brings the Pentagon fully into compliance with President Barack Obama's request for a 120-day stay of all military tribunals of terrorism suspects.
The move avoided a showdown between the U.S. military and President Barack Obama. It cancelled a hearing that had been set for Monday in the Guantánamo war crimes court, despite the fact Obama had ordered a freeze in proceedings there.
Susan Crawford, the retired judge who oversees the commissions, issued a ruling dismissing without prejudice all charges against Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, said Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander J.D. Gordon.
Nashiri is accused of plotting the attack on the Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000.
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