Washington - The Pentagon has charged a Saudi Arabian man held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for helping to organize the bombing of the USS Cole in a Yemeni port in October 2000. Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, the top legal advisor to the Pentagon military commissions process for trying suspects in the war war on terrorism, said it was the first time the United States has charged anyone for the attack that left 17 sailors dead.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is of Yemeni descent, faces charges that include murder, violating laws of war, terrorism and providing material support to terrorism. He could face the death penalty.
Al-Nashiri was taken into custody in 2002 and was transferred to Guantanamo in 2006. He is one of three suspects the CIA has admitted to waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning but which is regarded by human rights groups as torture.
The charges must be upheld by Susan Crawford, the top judge for the military commissions who must also decide whether the death penalty is an appropriate sentencing option.
Hartmann said the judge overseeing the trial will determine what evidence should be allowed in court, including information obtained through waterboarding.
Terrorists in a small boat approached the Cole, a guided missile destroyer, in the Yemeni port in Aden and detonated explosives, ripping a massive hole in the ship's hull. Dozens were sailors were also injured.
