Guantanamo judge refuses to suspend trial

The decision by Army Col. James Pohl immediately raised questions about whether other cases could be affected

NEW YORK — A military judge stunned prosecutors and defence attorneys Thursday by rejecting U.S. President Barack Obama's bid to suspend all Guantanamo Bay court proceedings for 120 days — calling the government's argument "unpersuasive" in the case of a terror suspect in the USS Cole bombing.
The decision by Army Col. James Pohl immediately raised questions about whether other cases could be affected — including that of Canadian-born terror suspect Omar Khadr, whose trial judge last week accepted the 120-day suspension.
At the very least, the ruling placed a kink in the new administration's bid to buy time to review the cases of the 21 terror suspects currently charged among the 245 remaining detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.
The White House appeared taken by surprise — but played down the effects of the decision.
"I believe that all the other trials were stayed, which I think continues to give us what we need to evaluate who is at Gitmo, and make the decisions commensurate with the executive order that the president signed," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, adopting a term for Guantanamo commonly used among servicemen.
"But we're working to get some consultation on that."
Prosecutors and defence lawyers alike suggested Pohl's decision may mean the government will be forced to drop charges against Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri — or else, his currently scheduled Feb. 9 arraignment will go ahead.
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