Morocco clears prisoner of terror charges

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

Rabat - A Moroccan court has acquitted a man once held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp of terrorism charges, a report said on Wednesday.

Mohamed Benmoujane, 25, had been convicted of crimes including membership of a terrorist group but was acquitted on appeal by an anti-terrorist court near here, the MAP news agency reported.

Benmoujane was arrested by Pakistani forces in 2001 and handed over to the United States, which held him at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba until returning him to Morocco in October last year.

He had admitted to attending an al-qaeda terror camp in Afghanistan but claimed it was an "error".

His defence lawyer welcomed the court's decision. "The Moroccan judiciary is independent and is capable of making such a judgement," he said.

Another former Guantanamo detainee, Mohamed Slimani, was acquitted of terrorism charges by the same court earlier this month.

May 31 2007
iol.co.za