Bush Seeks to Overturn Army Panel Ruling

At the heart of the legal battle is the fact that President Bush has declared international treaty protections do not apply to Salim Ahmed Hamdan and all others deemed by the U.S. government to be linked to al-Qaida.
The judge's decision five months ago halted the trial of Hamdan, who joined forces with Osama bin Laden in 1996, the government says, serving as his personal driver and delivering weapons and ammunition to al-Qaida.
Hamdan's lawyers say he is an innocent civilian who was not part of al-Qaida and whose only crime was working for a very bad employer. A driver and mechanic with a fourth-grade education, Hamdan left his home country of Yemen to find a better job, his lawyers say, and he was captured by bounty hunters in Afghanistan, sold to the Americans and shipped to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Now Hamdan would be barred from part of his trial, while the government presents classified evidence that only his attorneys would be allowed to see. The government says national security necessitates the step, leading to the judge's ruling that the Bush administration's military commissions are unlawful.