Ex-Guantanamo prosecutor to leave U.S. military

By Jane Sutton

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Air Force lawyer who quit as chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo war court five months ago because of what he called political interference has asked to leave the U.S. military, he said on Tuesday.

Col. Moe Davis said he submitted retirement papers last week, partly because of fallout from his public criticism of the Guantanamo court and partly because of family concerns. He does not expect the military to oppose his retirement.

"I imagine my last day in uniform will be some time in July," Davis, a 25-year veteran who has worked as both a U.S. military prosecutor and defense lawyer, told Reuters in a telephone interview from the Washington area.

As chief prosecutor in the Guantanamo legal system for two years, Davis was a fierce advocate for the court created by the Bush administration to try suspected terrorists outside of regular U.S. military and civilian courts.

He resigned in October, alleging Pentagon officials had exerted political influence in an effort to rush through high-profile charges and approved the use of torture-tainted evidence.

Davis suddenly became a hero to the human rights groups that had long excoriated him. He also became a potential defense witness for prisoners he had charged as prosecutor.

"A year ago I was a villain of the left, just a puppet of the Bush administration, a neo-Nazi jerk. Now the people that hated me think I'm a hero. To the people that loved me then, I'm a villain overnight," Davis told Reuters.

Davis, who once compared Guantanamo defendants to vampires cringing from the sunlight of justice, summed up his new status with one of the colorful metaphors that were his hallmark.