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Military jurors found Osama bin Laden's former driver Salim Hamdan not guilty Wednesday on terrorist conspiracy charges but convicted him on the lesser charge of providing material support to Al-Qaeda.

The split verdict marked a dramatic conclusion of the first trial before the special tribunals created by President George W. Bush to try suspects in the "war on terror."

The jury must now set a sentence for Hamdan, who faces a possible maximum term of life in prison, with hearings due to begin later Wednesday.

His case, the first US war crimes trial since World War II, was seen as an important test of the controversial military commission system that has been widely criticized by human rights groups as unfair.

The White House welcomed the verdict shortly after it was announced and the Pentagon said it intended to press forward with the trials of at least 20 more detainees held at the Guantanamo prison.

"We're pleased that Salim Hamdan received a fair trial," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. "The Military Commission system is a fair and appropriate legal process."

"We respect that decision," Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said of the verdict. "We fully intend to move forward with additional prosecutions on the 20 other cases that are currently in the military commission system."

Clad in a white turban and tan coat, Hamdan stood with a solemn expression and then bowed his head as the verdict was read out by the head of the jury in a makeshift courtroom at the remote US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Yemeni national with a fourth-grade education has been at the center of intense legal battles in which the Bush administration has fought to prosecute terror suspects outside regular courts and to hold others indefinitely without charge.

Hamdan was found guilty of five counts under the single charge of support for terrorism, alleging he served as a driver and bodyguard for bin Laden, ferried weapons for Al-Qaeda and was fully aware that the organisation engaged in terrorism.

But the rejection of the conspiracy charge showed prosecutors were unable to prove that Hamdan helped plot Al-Qaeda attacks on civilians or other targets.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal the verdict after questioning whether Hamdan's role as a driver qualifies as a war crime. They also allege dubious evidence was presented in the case from coercive interrogations.

"Is material support a war crime? The defense believes it is not," one of Hamdan's lawyers, Michael Berrigan, told reporters after the verdict. "That issue will go forward on appeal."

Berrigan said it was a "travesty" that Hamdan was convicted under a law adopted in 2006, which established the military commissions, long after he was captured in 2001 in Afghanistan.

But a legal expert and former prosecutor, Jonathan Drimmer, said it was "a good outcome for the government in arguing that this was a fair trial."

The case indicated the jury was independent, was able to weigh the evidence and to make a decision based on evidence, "three of the critical hallmarks of a fair trial," said Drimmer, a law professor at Georgetown University.

"The fourth factor, the ability of the defense to mount a full defense, is where the criticism of the process likely will be levied," he said, citing the hearsay and secret evidence allowed in the special tribunals.

During two weeks of proceedings, prosecutors described Hamdan as part of an inner circle of bin Laden's henchmen.

The defense argued that although he was bin Laden's driver, Hamdan was a minor figure without a role in terrorist plots.

The military commissions have faced repeated legal challenges and Hamdan's appeal could have far-reaching consequences.

Wednesday's verdict and the sentence will be reviewed by the Pentagon official who oversees the military commission system, Susan Crawford, and then by a Court of Military Commission Review.

Hamdan also can appeal to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia and the US Supreme Court.

The Defense Department said Hamdan will be separated from the general prisoner population at Guantanamo to serve out his sentence.

This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.

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