10 Jun 2009

Guantanamo detainee arrives in US for trial

9:12 am on 10 June 2009

The first Guantanamo Bay detainee to face trial in a civilian court in the United States has been transferred to New York.

The trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is a test case for US President Barack Obama's plans to close the controversial prison for foreign terrorism suspects.

Mr Ghailani, from Tanzania, is accused of involvement in the bombing of US embassies in Africa.

He faces 286 charges, including conspiring with Osama bin Laden and other members of al Qaeda to kill Americans.

224 of the charges are for the murder of each of the those killed in the bombings in Tanzania and Kenya on 7 August 1998.

Mr Ghailani pleaded not guilty to all the charges in a Manhattan court on Wednesday.