A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

GUANTANAMO: Challenges over secret evidence complicate Guantanamo tribunals

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — The secrecy shrouding government files on terror suspects is bogging down the Pentagon's effort to hold trials at Guantanamo Bay, with defense attorneys accusing the U.S. government of withholding potential evidence.

At pretrial hearings this week, attorneys for two al-Qaida suspects captured in Afghanistan said they need more access to interrogators, witnesses and records. Prosecutors objected, citing a need to protect the identities of U.S. service members and other security concerns.

The hearings did not resolve the disputes, which appear likely to further delay the launch of first U.S. war-crime tribunals since the World War II era. The first detainees were charged more than three years ago, but repeated legal challenges have kept any from going to trial.

"We're going to have to see how willing the judges are to interpret the rules so as to give defense counsel some kind of chance to actually defend their clients," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, a defense attorney for detainee Omar Khadr. "That means litigating these discovery issues and that takes time."

Trials are scheduled to begin this spring for Khadr, who is accused of hurling a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in 2002, and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden who allegedly also delivered weapons for al-Qaida.

They are minor figures compared with the 15 "high-value" detainees — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — who are among those expected to face charges. Secrecy may be even a bigger issue in their trials.

The New York Times reported Saturday that military prosecutors are nearing the end of preparations for the "first sweeping case" against as many as six Guantanamo detainees suspected in the Sept. 11 plot — Mohammed likely among them.

The law authorizing the war-crimes tribunals allows the use of classified evidence, and prosecutors say they fulfill their obligation to share it with the other side. But some defense attorneys say the government uses too narrow an interpretation of what information is relevant.

JAMAICA: Officials consider legalizing abortion

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — The government says it is studying a plan to legalize abortions because health officials say the move would keep women from being injured or killed in botched illegal operations.

Health Minister Rudyard Spencer told a news conference Friday that the committee reviewing the plan would consider public opinion.

A 17-member Abortion Policy Review Advisory Group made up largely of doctors and ministry officials recently said the government should legalize abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of the circumstance in which a woman became pregnant.

While abortion has always been illegal in Jamaica, the group that hundreds of young women are being hospitalized each year for botched procedures.

The group noted that more than 640 women were admitted to a hospital ward that treats complications from abortions during a six month period in 2005. Almost 200 of the women had two or more previous abortions and most were young and poor.

The Ministry of Health estimates that between 20,000 and 30,000 illegal abortions are performed each year.

Dr. Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica, said it would support abortion in the case of incest or rape.

Religious groups, however, have criticized the plan.

GUYANA: Government punishes officers for allegedly slow response to massacre of 11

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Several police officers are being disciplined with transfers after phone records showed a delayed response to the massacre of 11 people in a coastal town last month.

The highest-ranking officer punished was the assistant superintendent of the East Coast division, which covers a large region east of the capital of Georgetown, Interior Minister Clement Rohee said in a statement late Friday.

It was unclear how many officers are being transferred and to which stations. No one has been fired or demoted over the incident.

Records show that officers took about 20 minutes to respond to reports of the killings, he said.

Hundreds of residents near Lusignan, where the killings occurred, protested last month over what they said was police failure to protect them. Authorities have since killed two men and arrested five others they suspect were involved in the killings. They also have begun clearing thick jungles where they say more suspects could be hiding.

Alleged gang leader Rondell Rawlins told a local newspaper that he organized the Jan. 26 attack on six adults and five children because he believes someone abducted his pregnant, 18-year-old girlfriend. Tenisha Morgan, who was last seen Jan. 18 after collapsing at a bus stop, has not been found.

PUERTO RICO: Friend of reggaeton artist bites autograph-seeker, police say

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A woman seeking an autograph from a popular reggaeton performer was grabbed and apparently bitten by someone in his entourage Saturday, and several gunshots were fired, police said.

Police said prosecutors would decide early next week whether to press charges against Hector "El Father" Delgado and his entourage, who were questioned Saturday.

The incident occurred before dawn when Delgado stopped at a gas station to buy food after playing at a private party.

When a 26-year-old woman insisted on having his autograph, someone in Delgado's group grabbed her. An argument broke out when her husband approached and someone fired a gun several times in the air, said police spokeswoman Maria del Pilar Bon.

Police originally said a bodyguard fired the shots, but later said they were still investigating who used the weapon, though they believe it was someone in Delgado's group, which included his brother, said police officer Yolanda Hernandez.

At one point, someone bit the woman's right arm, Bon said, adding that she did not know how serious the bite was.

The woman and her 23-year-old husband left shortly afterward and Delgado's group fled without paying for their gas. They were later detained at another gas station in western Puerto Rico, Bon said.