Opening statements in the trial of accused al-Qaida conspirator Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantánamo detainee to face trial in a civilian court, has been delayed until at least Wednesday, Southern District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Friday in a hearing. Jury selection began last week and openings were to begin today. The judge said the delay was necessary to decide whether a key prosecution witness can testify and to give prosecutors time to appeal if he rules against letting the witness take the stand.
Mr. Ghailani is charged with conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. He is accused of being a bomb maker and aide to Osama bin Laden. Earlier Friday, Judge Kaplan said jurors can see Mr. bin Laden’s orders from more than a decade ago that his followers kill Americans. Prosecutors had asked that they be allowed to show jurors Mr. bin Laden’s words, including a TV interview in which he said U.S. civilians were targets of his holy war against the West.
