Profile of Salim Ahmed Hamdan

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni, had charges dropped against him yesterday along with another Guantanamo detainee, Omar Khadr.

He was accused of conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism by transporting weapons and attending an al-Qaida training camp.

Captured in Afghanistan in November 2001, he admitted to working as a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden but said he was merely working to support his family, and needed the $200 (£100) salary. He denied any role in the September 11 attacks.

It was Mr Hamdan's court challenge last year that led the supreme court to declare the first military commissions authorized by President George Bush unlawful. Congress subsequently passed legislation authorizing a new system of tribunals.

Lawyers for Mr Hamdan argued at the time that Mr Bush had violated basic military protections with his November 2001 executive order setting up the tribunals.

They said suspects brought before the tribunals did not have the right to an attorney of their choice or to see the evidence against them. Even if they were acquitted and freed, the verdict could be reversed by the defence secretary.

Mr Hamdan's lawyers contended that this framework made the tribunals unconstitutional as it allowed the president to define the crime and select the prosecutor and judges who act as jury.

Mr Hamdan alleged that he was beaten, forced into painful positions, subjected to extreme cold temperatures and threatened with death when he was detained in Afghanistan in 2001 and early 2002.

He also described being kept in such extreme isolation after being transferred to Guantanamo that he once considered "pleading guilty in order to get out of here".

After Mr Hanman won his landmark ruling against the first military commissions, he was again charged under the new system of tribunals. But yesterday judges dismissed the charges against him and Omar Khadr, a 15-year-old, on technical grounds.