Bin Laden’s driver being sent home
Former Osama bin Laden driver Salim Hamdan is being transferred from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, back to his home country of Yemen, a senior defense official said Monday.
Hamdan was convicted of aiding al-Qaida in August and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison. He would be eligible for release in January with credit for time served.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said Hamdan will serve out the remainder of his sentence in Yemen.
A jury of six U.S. military officers sentenced Hamdan at Guantanamo’s first war-crimes trial earlier this year, and at the time he had already served five years and a month at the Cuba facility.
Johannesburg, South Africa
Zimbabwe situation dire, Carter says
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday the crisis in Zimbabwe appears “much worse than anything we ever imagined” after the government there blocked his weekend humanitarian visit.
Carter, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and child advocate Graca Machel called for southern African leaders to halt the “deep suffering” in Zimbabwe, where the U.N. says more than 5 million people face imminent starvation.
The president of neighboring South Africa, meanwhile, warned Zimbabwe “may implode and collapse,” as he announced a new round of talks to try to resolve the political impasse.
His comments, some of the strongest yet by South Africa, come as a cholera epidemic has killed hundreds of Zimbabweans and spilled across the border into South Africa. Officials say Zimbabwe’s political and economic collapse caused the outbreak.
Bangkok, Thailand
Protesters vow to continue
Thousands of protesters surrounded the Thai government’s temporary headquarters at Bangkok’s domestic airport today, attempting to bring the administration to a standstill a day after blocking a parliament session.
The demonstrators, seeking the resignation of a government they allege is corrupt, camped outside the former VIP terminal at Don Muang airport that now serves as the office for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.
Somchai was in Peru for a summit of Pacific Rim leaders and not expected back until Wednesday. Demonstrators said their goal is to block the government from meeting – whenever and wherever that may be.