Iraqi-born Dutch citizen Wesam al-Delaema pleaded guilty Feb. 26 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of conspiracy to murder US nationals outside the United States. Al Delaema is the first alleged insurgent in the Iraq war to be tried in US federal court. As part of the plea arrangement al-Deleama admitted planting roadside bombs in the Iraq city of Fallujah and demonstrating on video how he planned to detonate those bombs to kill Americans. The agreement calls for a 25-year sentence to be served in the Netherlands, though the court will formally sentence al-Delaema April 15. The Netherlands, however, has discretion to change the length of the sentence.

Lawyers for Canadian detainee Omar Khadr were blocked from attending a scheduled Feb. 24 meeting with Khadr at Guantánamo Bay. Officials have launched an investigation into the ethics of the defense team, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, a military lawyer for Khadr, e-mailed media outlets to state that the investigation was prompted by his own criticism of lead defense counsel Air Force Col. Peter Masciola. Kuebler accused Masciola of having a disqualifying conflict of interest after Masciola allegedly implied that Khadr should face an additional civil trial, contradicting the position of the defense team that Khadr should be returned to Canada.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Feb. 25 upheld a lower court ruling that bars Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and current leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), from holding elected office based on a past criminal conviction for "hijacking." Sharif was convicted of the offense for attempting to divert a plane carrying Army commander Pervez Musharraf during a 1999 coup against Sharif that ultimately succeeded.

Some US forces likely to remain in Iraq after President Barack Obama fulfills his pledge to "withdraw combat troops" would still have a combat role, unnamed Pentagon officials told the New York Times. Obama plans to announce his withdrawal strategy this week, and is expected to choose a compromise 19-month plan that leaves behind as many as 50,000 troops for clean-up and protection operations—potentially for years to come. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that a "residual" force would number in the tens of thousands. There are currently some 142,000 US troops in Iraq, including 14 combat brigades and thousands of support troops. Even after August 2010, as up to 50,000 would remain, including some combat units reassigned as "Advisory Training Brigades" or "Advisory Assistance Brigades," the officials said. (NYT, Newsday, CSM, Feb. 26)

The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) Feb. 25 found three former guerrilla leaders guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in the country's civil war. Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao are the three highest-ranking surviving Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders, after founder Foday Sankoy died before being tried in 2003. Of 18 charges, Sesay and Kallon were found guilty of 16 offenses and Gbao was found guilty of 14 offenses.

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic was acquitted Feb. 26 of all charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Five other former high-ranking Yugoslav officials were convicted of crimes against humanity that same day. Of the five, former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, Yugoslav Army General Nebojsa Pavkovic and Serbian Police General Sreten Lukic were each sentenced to 22 years in prison, and former Yugoslav Army General Vladimir Lazarevic and Chief of General Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic were each sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A judge in Lebanon Feb. 25 granted bail to three men suspected of involvement in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The judge did not explain why he released them within days of the planned start-up date for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SLT). Of the three men, who have been detained for three years, Mahmoud and Ahmed Abdel-Aal are Lebanese brothers whose phone records allegedly link them to the bombings, and are members of a pro-Syrian Sunni Muslim group. Ibrahim Jarjoura is a Syrian who was arrested for allegedly misleading the investigation. Four more suspects, who are high ranking Lebanese generals, are still being held. The SLT is expected to request their transfer to The Hague within two months.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Feb. 24 that two former lobbyists may use classified documents in their defense against charges under the 1917 Espionage Act. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, previously with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), are charged with conspiring to convey classified US intelligence to the Israeli government. The decision affirms a ruling of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that the defendants would be allowed to use certain classified materials in their defense under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA).