Guantanamo Detainee Loses Bid for Release

(CN) - A Guantanamo detainee who admitted affiliation with a terrorist group lost his bid for release in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Shawali Khan has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since early 2003, and was active with the group Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) when he was captured.

In June 2008, he petitioned the court for a writ of habeas corpus, but U.S. District Judge John Bates said there was enough evidence to detain him.

Though much of the government's evidence is unreliable, Bates said, "the evidence that remains is sufficient - under respondents' previous interpretation of their authority to detain - to warrant denial."

Khan admitted to being a radio operator for HIG, facilitating communication between cells of the terrorist organization. The U.S. government believes Khan played a role in the explosions near Kandahar airfield in October 2002, according to the ruling.

He is also suspected of having delivered a detonation device in November 2002 for use in an attack against the United States.

At the time of his capture, Khan had al-Qaida and Taliban-related reading materials in his home and owned a notebook containing a plan to kidnap the U.S. president.

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