Military Tribunal Under Way At Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — An American military commander altered a report on a firefight in Afghanistan to cast blame for the death of a Delta Force commando on a Canadian youth who was captured after the shooting stopped, a defense attorney said yesterday.

The attorney, Navy Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler, made the allegation at a pretrial hearing as he argued for access to the officer, identified only as "Colonel W," as well as details about interrogations that he said might help clear his client of war-crimes charges.

The American military has charged Omar Khadr with murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer during an American military raid on July 27, 2002, on an Al Qaeda compound in eastern Afghanistan. Mr. Khadr's case is on track to be the first to go to trial under a military tribunal system at this U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.