Judge sets Dec. 20 as next court date for former Guantanamo detainees

The Criminal Chamber at the Rabat Court of appeal has set December 20 as the next court day in the trial of five Moroccans who had formerly been held by the United States at its prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The defendants' lawyers had asked the judge to postpone the trial in order to prepare their arguments.

The trial is the first of former Guantanamo detainees to be held in an Arab state.

The men, who were all arrested during the invasion of Afghanistan and whom the Americans turned over to the Moroccan government in August, are charged with belonging to or assisting a criminal group that was preparing to commit terrorist acts.

Moroccan investigators say all of the men were either members of Al Qaeda or had been heavily influenced by the group's teachings while living in Afghanistan.

The defendants were identified as Mohamed Ouzar, Ibrahim Benchekroun, Mohamed Mazouz, Redouane Chakouri and Abdallah Tabarak.