[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] has denied the habeas corpus petition of Algerian Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Sufiyan Barhoumi, according to a Thursday Miami Herald report [text]. Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled in a still-classified opinion that the US may continue detaining Barhoumi, who is accused of training with al Qaeda, setting up a bomb-making shop, and purchasing supplies to make roadside bombs. This was Collyer's first ruling in a Guantanamo habeas case, bringing the total number of government victories to eight, while 30 detainees' habeas petitions have been granted.

Barhoumi originally faced conspiracy charges [DOD press release], but those charges were thrown out when the US Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] in 2006 that the military commission system as initially constituted violated US and international law. Congress subsequently passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [text, PDF], which established the current military commissions system. Barhoumi was charged in May 2008 with with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, but those charges were later dropped [JURIST reports].