Mistrial avoided in Guantanamo court

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A potential mistrial was avoided in the first Guantanamo trial on Tuesday when the U.S. military judge ruled it was too late to challenge his war crimes instructions to the jury deliberating the case of Osama bin Laden's driver.

But the judge acknowledged he may have erred and prosecutors sought clarification on the law that they said could affect plans to try up to 80 more Guantanamo prisoners.

Jurors began deliberating on Monday in the case of Yemeni prisoner Salim Hamdan, who is charged with conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism while working as the al Qaeda leader's driver in Afghanistan from 1996 until his capture November 2001.

Hamdan was allowed an hour-long phone call with his wife in Yemen on Monday evening, a Guantanamo official said. Defence attorneys said they tried to get permission for her to attend the trial but were refused on grounds that she is married to a terrorism suspect.

Jurors recessed for the night without reaching a verdict on Tuesday.

While they deliberated, prosecutors said the judge had given them flawed instructions on what constitutes a war crime and asked him to call them in for revised instructions.

Defence lawyers said the instructions were correct and that if the judge found otherwise, a mistrial should be declared. They said changing the instructions after deliberations began would be extremely prejudicial to Hamdan, who could face life in prison if convicted.

"It may be that the instruction was erroneous but I guess you've waived the right to challenge it by not challenging it sooner," ruled the judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred.