Pentagon to seek $115 million for terror trials
Source: Reuters
By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Pentagon will ask Congress for $115 million to build a court complex at its Guantanamo Bay military base to try suspected Taliban and al Qaeda members for war crimes, a Defense Department spokesman said on Friday. Under the plan, the Pentagon will propose a complex that includes a courthouse with two large courtrooms and a high-security area as well as housing for legal personnel, dining areas, a media center and other infrastructure, according to department spokesman Chito Peppler. The Pentagon will likely submit its funding request next week, according to a defense official. The Defense Department wants the funds approved this year, according to that official, so trials can start by July 1. A new Congress begins in January controlled by the Democrats after voters swept Republican lawmakers from power in an election driven largely by voters' anger over Iraq. Another defense official said the timing of the funding request for the court complex was not related to the power switch. President George W. Bush signed a law this year creating the military commissions system to try terrorism suspects. Bush said the act would help bring to trial some of those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. Defense officials have said the government would likely try between 60 and 80 of the Guantanamo detainees. Guantanamo holds about 430 detainees, including 14 of the U.S. government's top terrorism suspects, such as the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and two other al Qaeda leaders, Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah. The United States has faced international criticism over its indefinite detention of Guantanamo detainees, many held for more than four years without charges. Defense and military officials charged with building capacity for the terror trials had explored options that included as many as 10 courtrooms and a far steeper price tag, officials said.
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