World News

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A jury of six U.S. military officers convicted Osama bin Laden's former driver of supporting terrorism Wednesday, but cleared him of conspiracy charges in the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay.

The Pentagon-selected jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days before returning the verdict against Salim Hamdan, who held his head in his hands and wept when a Navy captain on the jury read the decision.

The jury reconvened hours later for a sentencing hearing in the hilltop courtroom on this U.S. base in southeastern Cuba. Hamdan faces life behind bars, though it is unclear where he would serve his time.

Defense lawyers had feared a guilty verdict was inevitable, saying the tribunal system's rules were designed to achieve convictions, according to Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney.

But the Bush administration said Hamdan enjoyed a zealous defense and called the verdict fair.

The five-man, one-woman jury convicted Hamdan on five counts of supporting terrorism and found him not guilty on three others. He was cleared of two counts of conspiracy.

Hamdan's attorneys said the judge allowed evidence that would not have been admitted by any civilian or military court in America, and that interrogations at the center of the government's case were tainted by coercive tactics, including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement.

The war crimes trial differed from the courts-martial used to prosecute American troops in Iraq or Vietnam. Hamdan did not have all the rights normally accorded by an American court, from a jury of his peers to Miranda rights, and the judge allowed secret testimony and hearsay evidence.

But the government and tribunal supporters said Hamdan had enough rights to ensure a fair trial. Sen. John McCain said the split verdict proved that.

"The fact that the jury did not find Hamdan guilty of all of the charges brought against him demonstrates that the jury weighed the evidence carefully," McCain said.

Deputy chief defense counsel Michael Berrigan, however, said the split verdict was due to the skill of his team, who won an acquittal on what he called the most serious charges, even when the system was stacked against the defendant.

"They may not have hit a home run, but at least they hit a triple," he said, adding: "The travesty of this is that Mr. Hamdan should have been acquitted of all charges."

The verdict will be appealed automatically to a special military appeals court. Hamdan can also appeal his conviction in U.S. civilian courts.