Defense closing at Guantanamo detainee's NY trial

[November 09, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The defense is expected to give its closing argument for the first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial.

The closings resume Tuesday at the Manhattan trial of Ahmed Ghailani (guh-LAHN'-ee).

On Monday, a prosecutor called Ghailani a cold-blooded killer and terrorist. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Chernoff said Ghailani slipped away the day before his cohorts carried out a plot to attack two U.S. embassies in Africa.

The 1998 attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.

Chernoff asked jurors to reject defense claims that Ghailani was an unwitting dupe for a terror cell. He said the men were thugs operating on orders from Osama bin Laden.

[Associated Press]

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