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Pentagon to Ask Guantanamo Judges to Reconsider Decision to Dismiss Charges

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Pentagon officials say they intend to ask military commission judges to reconsider their dismissal of charges against two detainees being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.

On Monday, the judges said they lacked the jurisdiction to try the detainees under new rules established by the U.S. Congress for the tribunal system in 2006.

Both detainees were designated as enemy combatants -- but the judges said they had to be designated as "unlawful" enemy combatants in order to face trial.

Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former chauffeur for Osama bin Laden, had been charged with conspiracy and providing support for terrorism. Canadian national Omar Ahmed Khadr faced murder charges for killing an American soldier in Afghanistan with a hand grenade.

Khadr was 15 years old at the time of the killing.

On Tuesday, the Bush administration expressed dissatisfaction at the dismissal of the charges.

The detention center at the U.S. military base in Cuba is still holding 385 suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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