Jurors convict former Bin Laden driver in war crimes trial

Guantanamo Bay: Jurors convicted a former driver of Osama Bin Laden in what is the first US war crimes trial since World War II.

Yemeni driver Salim Hamdan, who faces life in prison, was convicted on charges of providing material support for terrorism but acquitted of supporting Al Qaida.

Jurors returned for a third day of deliberations on Wednesday in the Guantanamo war crimes trial, with his defence lawyers fearing a guilty verdict may be inevitable.

The rules of the tribunal system at the US Navy base in southeast Cuba appear to be designed to achieve convictions, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, Salim Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney.

"I don't know if the panel can render fair what has already happened," Mizer told reporters.

Hamdan, a Yemeni, faces a maximum life sentence if convicted on charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism at the first US war crimes trial since World War II.

His attorneys say the judge allowed evidence that would not have been admitted by any civilian or military US court. They say interrogations at the centre of the government's case were tainted by coercive tactics, including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement.

Supporters of the tribunals say the first full demonstration of the Bush administration's system for prosecuting alleged terrorists provided extraordinary due process rights for defendants.

The jury panel of six American military officers spent seven hours weighing the verdict over the previous two days before beginning their session on Wednesday.