Buried evidence revealed in Guantanamo trial

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The U.S. government has for years had secret evidence that could help a young Canadian prisoner defend himself in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, a military defense lawyer said on Thursday.

Prosecutors notified prisoner Omar Khadr's military lawyer two days ago of the existence of "potentially exculpatory evidence" from a U.S. government eyewitness to the battle in Afghanistan that resulted in Khadr's capture in 2002, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler said. "It's an eyewitness the government has always known about," Kuebler told reporters after Khadr was arraigned for the third time on charges of killing a U.S. soldier. "This is something that was buried because nobody ever looked."

It was unclear when military prosecutors learned about that witness and they declined to speak to reporters at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba. The evidence is secret and Kuebler would not say which government entity employed the witness.

But he said the evidence could challenge the government's assertion that Khadr is an "unlawful enemy combatant" subject to trial by the special military tribunals the Bush administration set up to try foreign captives held as suspected terrorists at Guantanamo.