US military tribunals set up to judge two Guantanamo prisoners

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two US military tribunals have been convened to judge two Guantanamo detainees, the Pentagon announced.

Dates have not been set for the trials of Ethiopian Binyam Ahmed Muhammad and Saudi Ghassan Abdullah Al-Sharbi.

"Muhammad and Al-Sharbi's cases were referred as non-capital cases to a panel consisting of six members and two alternate members," a Pentagon statement said.

The tribunal judging Muhammad will be headed by Marine Colonel Ralph Kohlmann, who has served 18 years as a military judge.

Al-Sharbi's tribunal will be presided over by Marine Captain Daniel O'Toole, with 21 years' experience, the statement said.

"The presiding officers will be contacting attorneys in the near future to set an initial trial schedule," the statement said.

Nine Guantanamo prisoners have been accused of terrorist activities and will be referred to tribunals. Two of those cases await a US Supreme Court decision on the legality of the trials.

Muhammad is an electrical engineer and a recent convert to Islam. He is accused of having received explosives training and of having been send to the United States to plant bombs.

Al-Sharbi was arrested on March 28, 2002 in Pakistan and accused of having been trained in explosives by Al-Qaeda for use against US troops in Afghanistan.