Tropical Storm Isaac Cancels Guantanamo Bay 9/11 Hearings
The pretrial hearings at Guantanamo Bay, for five prisoners accused of launching the September 11 attacks, were postponed on Wednesday, due to the imminent arrival of Tropical Storm Isaac.
The U.S. military is arranging evacuation flights for lawyers, paralegals, interpreters, journalists, rights monitors and family members of 9/11 victims, who had traveled to Guantanamo Bay for the hearings.
At the naval base in southeast Cuba, boats were taken out of the water and dry-docked, and sandbags were placed around buildings close to the shoreline.
[Captain John Nettleton, Guantanamo Bay Commanding Officer]:
"We're mustering all our people and we're preparing, making sure everybody has water and food and that everybody knows where they're going. My biggest concern is preventing any loss of life."
Hearings had been scheduled to begin on Thursday for the alleged mastermind of the hijacked plane attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four others.
Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to pass over Cuba on Saturday and Sunday.
The U.S. military is arranging evacuation flights for lawyers, paralegals, interpreters, journalists, rights monitors and family members of 9/11 victims, who had traveled to Guantanamo Bay for the hearings.
At the naval base in southeast Cuba, boats were taken out of the water and dry-docked, and sandbags were placed around buildings close to the shoreline.
[Captain John Nettleton, Guantanamo Bay Commanding Officer]:
"We're mustering all our people and we're preparing, making sure everybody has water and food and that everybody knows where they're going. My biggest concern is preventing any loss of life."
Hearings had been scheduled to begin on Thursday for the alleged mastermind of the hijacked plane attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four others.
Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to pass over Cuba on Saturday and Sunday.