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• Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is a Saudi national who was charged by the Pentagon with planning the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. The bombing ripped a hole in the destroyer and killed seventeen sailors.

  On February 6, 2009, the senior military judge who oversees trials at Guantanamo Bay, where al-Nashiri was held, dropped charges against him to comply with President Barack Obama's executive order to stop court proceedings at Guantanamo. The charges were dropped without prejudice, allowing for the possibility of new charges in the future.VOA News: Charges Dropped in Guantanamo Terror Trial (February 6, 2009) Christian Science Monitor: Charges dropped against USS Cole bombing suspect (February 6, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Date of attack on USS Cole: October 12, 2000
  2. Arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2002; was transferred to American custodySkyNews: Al Nashiri: USS Cole Mastermind (September 29, 2004)
  3. Charged with "directing and organizing" attack in June 2008The New York Times: Pentagon Announces Charges in USS Cole Bombing (June 30, 2008)
  4. Sentenced to death for role in attack by Yemeni court in 2004
  5. Held at Guantanamo Bay since 2006
  6. Initially confessed to masterminding attack
  7. Claims he was tortured at Guantanamo Bay and that he played no role in attackCNN: Cole Bombing Suspect Says He Confessed Under Torture (March 30, 2007)
  8. CIA admitted to waterboarding al-NashiriAgence-France Presse: US Charges Suspected USS Cole Attacker (June 30, 2008)
  9. Charges dropped on February 6, 2009, against al-NashiriChristian Science Monitor: Charges dropped against USS Cole bombing suspect (February 6, 2009)
  10. Charges were dropped by Judge Susan Crawford, who oversees the tribunal system at Guantanamo BayChristian Science Monitor: Charges dropped against USS Cole bombing suspect (February 6, 2009)

• The U.S.S. Cole Bombing

  Al-Nashiri initially confessed to the Cole bombing and his participation in other terrorist attacks, but he later recanted his confessions, saying that he had been tortured while incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. In February, 2008, the CIA admitted that it had used the controversial waterboarding interrogation technique on al-Nashiri.Agence-France Presse: US Charges Suspected USS Cole Attacker (June 30, 2008)

• Related Mahalo Pages

  USS Cole Attack | Guantanamo Bay | Pentagon | Waterboarding | Obama Executive Orders | Al Qaeda | Terrorism | Susan Crawford | Rozita Swinton

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