Federal Judge Orders Release of al-Qaeda Operative Who Helped Plan 9/11 Currently Being Held in Gitmo

From Weasel Zippers:

How do those civilian trials for 9/11 plotters sound now, Obama?...

WASHINGTON- A suspected al Qaeda organizer once called "the highest value detainee" at Guantánamo Bay was ordered released by a federal judge in an order issued Monday.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi was accused in the 9/11 Commission report of helping recruit Mohammed Atta and other members of the al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Military prosecutors suspected Mr. Slahi of links to other al Qaeda operations, and considered seeking the death penalty against him while preparing possible charges in 2003 and 2004.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson granted Mr. Slahi's petition for habeas corpus, effectively finding the government lacked legal grounds to hold him. The order was classified, although the court said it planned to release a redacted public version in the coming weeks.

Mr. Robertson held four days of closed hearings in the Slahi case last year. Mr. Slahi testified via secure video link from Guantánamo Bay, said his attorney.

"They were considering giving him the death penalty. Now they don't even have enough evidence to pass the test for habeas," said the attorney, Nancy Hollander, of Albuquerque, N.M.