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The U.S. military opened a new war crimes court at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Sunday, despite increasing international pressure to close the detention facility. The move also came as the United States prepares to resume the trial this week of a Canadian terror suspect accused of killing an American soldier.
The new court, to be ready for use in March, has enough room to try up to six prisoners at the same time. It is part of the military's plan to try as many as 80 Guantanamo prisoners on war crimes charges, news reports said.
The United States opened the prison at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2002, to hold terrorist suspects and Taliban members mainly captured during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
About 275 are still being held at Guantanamo, and only about 10 have been charged.
The international community and human rights groups have been constantly calling for its closure, and most of the U.S. presidential candidates have pledged to shut down the prison camp if elected.
In another Guantanamo courtroom, pretrial hearings would resume later this week for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, who was accused of hurling a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier and wounded others during a July 2002 firefight at an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan.
Lawyers for Khadr would argue that the charges should be dismissed because Khadr was 15 when captured and the trial against him would run against international law protecting child soldiers.
Khadr faced a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on charges that included murder and providing material support to terrorism. |
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