- The Defence lawyers of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national charged over his alleged role in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya has appealed for his case to be thrown out for being denied a right to speedy trial.
Mr Ghailani who is the first Guantanamo detainee standing trial in a US civilian court, his case has been dragging in the Manhattan justice system.
His lawyers argued that his constitutional rights were violated because he was denied a speedy trial, also stating that he was tortured in a secret US Criminal Investigation Agency black site.
However, Prosecutors say that Mr Ghailani underwent enhanced interrogation because he knew critical intelligence about Al Qaeda that investigators needed in order to save American lives.
They also argue that he never made a formal request for a fast-track trial and therefore has no right to demand his case be dismissed.
Mr Ghailani's case, which coincides with the eighth anniversary of the first group of 20 detainees being sent to Guantanamo in 2002, is a test for President Barack Obama's plans to shut down the US military prison.
Last week, the US president reiterated his commitment to shut it down although the White House has conceded that he will not meet his self-imposed deadline of the end of January.
President Obama also suspended the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen last week, following revelations that Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab accused of trying to destroy a Detroit-bound US airliner on 25 December reportedly received al-Qaeda training in Yemen.
Nearly 200 detainees remain at Guantanamo, nearly half of them from Yemen.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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