A military court judge postponed a trial for a suspected al-Qaeda member accused of bombing a U.S. warship in October 2000, The New York Times reported Monday.
Judge Col. Matthew S. Fitzgerald in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced the trial for suspected al-Qaeda jihadist Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will take place on June 1, 2026 in order to give defense attorneys more time to prepare a case, according to the NYT. Al-Nashiri is accused of orchestrating the bombing of the U.S. Naval destroyer Cole, in which two suicide bombers blew up the vessel during a refueling stop in Aden, Yemen.
The bombing killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors while injuring 40 others as the blast ripped the Cole apart at the waterline.
The trial was originally scheduled to begin Oct. 6, with the prosecution currently seeking the death penalty for al-Nashiri in the longest-running capital crime case at Guantanamo Bay, according to the NYT. Al-Nashiri’s lawyers argue that more time is needed to reach a potential settlement or guilty plea before heading to trial.
“It is irrational at best to believe everything can be done and can be done correctly in that time frame,” Anthony J. Natale, al-Nashiri’s former lead lawyer, told the NYT in July. “You only have so much resources and so much time.”
Fitzgerald is the fourth judge to adjudicate the case, and at least eight parents of victims have died during the length of the proceedings, according to the NYT. The attack was one of the major terrorist attacks against the U.S. before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Last year, the court concluded al-Nashiri’s confessions in Guantanamo in 2007 were extracted under torture by the C.I.A. and therefore were excluded from the case. Statements he made to FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigate Service (NCIS) agents shortly after his transfer from a CIA black site were also suppressed due to the torture.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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