Ex-Maryland man who joined al-Qaida sentenced at Guantanamo

— A military jury imposed a sentence of 26 years Friday on a former Maryland man who admitted joining al-Qaida and has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The sentencing of Majid Khan is the culmination of the first trial by military commission for one of the 14 so-called high-value detainees who were sent to the U.S. naval base in Cuba in 2006 after being held in a clandestine network of overseas CIA detention facilities and subjected to the harsh interrogation program developed in response to the 9/11 attacks. He said Khan’s team looks forward to working with the Biden administration to ensure “he has the necessary support to allow him to move on with his life and be a positive, contributing member of society.” Despite the pretrial agreement, the prosecution urged the jury to recommend a sentence at the higher end of the range as the defense urged jurors to consider Khan’s cooperation, contrition and the brutal conditions of his captivity. Khan’s cooperation is expected to help with other war crimes cases at Guantanamo, one involving five men held there who are charged with planning and aiding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.