Guantanamo phone report was in error, U.S. says

By Jane Sutton

MIAMI (Reuters)- The U.S. military erred when it said an accused al Qaeda conspirator at Guantanamo had completed a court-authorized phone call to his family in Sudan, a spokeswoman said.

A judge in the Guantanamo war crimes court ordered on Thursday that defendant Ibrahim al Qosi be allowed to make the call by July 1.

A spokeswoman for the Guantanamo detention operation said later on Thursday that the call had been completed and that Qosi spoke with his family for about an hour. But the spokeswoman, Navy Cmdr. Pauline Storum, notified journalists by e-mail late Friday night that that report was erroneous and the call is still pending.

Qosi refused to have a military or civilian lawyer appointed by the U.S. government defend him on U.S. charges of providing material support for terrorism and conspiring with al Qaeda. But he said he had been unable to exercise his right to hire his own attorney because he has been isolated for 6-1/2 years in the prison on the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

The judge ordered his captors to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross to arrange a phone call so Qosi could ask his family to find him a lawyer he would trust. He is accused of serving as a bodyguard, driver and logistics operative for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and faces life in prison if convicted.

(Editing by Eric Beech)