New York, Aug.11 (ANI): Several Americans are outraged that Salim
Hamdan - who was Osama bin Laden''s chauffeur before his arrest six
years ago - will be out of jail before the end of the year.

But Hamdan''s jury of six military officers apparently agreed with
Nasser al-Bahri, an al Qaeda operative interviewed by Jonathan Mahler
for his book "The Challenge," who called Hamdan "a really naive, simple
guy who doesn''t know the first thing about jihad and was just tagging
along for the job."

While doing research for the book, Mahler interviewed al-Bahri in a
prison in Yemen after the USS Cole bombing in 2000. He also spoke to
Hamdan''s family in Yemen.

While Mahler declined to comment, a source said al-Bahri was
sympathetic to a man he felt was "just a poor, uneducated guy who
needed a job in a country with an overwhelmingly high unemployment
rate."

Prosecutors wanted a sentence of 30 years to life in prison for
Hamdan. But after convicting him providing material support to al
Qaeda, the jury sentenced him to 5½ years, and he was given credit for
five years already served at Guantanamo Bay. (ANI)