USA - US Military. Pentagon Seeks Death Penalty Against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, USS Cole Bombing Suspect.

Pentagon Seeks Death Penalty Against USS Cole Bombing Suspect. The Defense Department announced today that it is seeking the death penalty against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, of Saudi Arabia, a Guantanamo Bay detainee in connection with the USS Cole bombing in Yemen on October 12, 2000. Military prosecutors have re-filed terrorism and murder charges against al-Nashiri, the first case to move forward since President Obama ordered military trials to resume at Guantanamo Bay. The charges allege that Al-Nashiri led the planning and preparation for the USS Cole attack that blew a hole in the ship, killing 17 sailors and wounding another 40. Intelligence sources say Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri led al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf region before his 2002 capture. If approved, this would be the 1st death penalty trial in the reconfigured military trial system. Al-Nashiri was first charged in 2008, but those charges were later withdrawn after President Obama took office, as his administration undertook a sweeping review of the Guantanamo Bay detention program.