Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul of Yemen was described by the Pentagon as a "key al-Qaeda propagandist" and former bodyguard to bin Laden, mastermind of the 2001 hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington which left nearly 3,000 people dead.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that Al Bahlul and another alleged al-Qaeda member held at Guantanamo Bay, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi of Sudan, had been charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes and would face trial by military tribunal.

According to the indictment, "from late 1999 through December 2001, al Bahlul was personally assigned by Osama bin Laden to work in the al-Qaeda media office.

"In this capacity, al Bahlul created several instructional and motivational recruiting video tapes on behalf of al-Qaeda," the indictment said.

"On September 11, 2001 Osama bin Laden tasked al Bahlul to set up a satellite connection so that bin Laden and other al-Qaeda members could see news reports," the indictment said.

"Despite his efforts, al Bahlul was unable to obtain a satellite connection because of the mountainous terrain," it added.

"In the weeks immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden tasked al Bahlul to obtain media reports concerning the September 11th attacks and to gather data concerning the economic damage caused by these attacks," it added.

Al Bahlul and al Qosi are the first of the more than 650 detainees at Guantanamo to be charged.

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