A military judge on Friday postponed the first war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, saying he wants to wait until the Supreme Court makes its highly anticipated ruling on the right of detainees to challenge their confinement in civil courts.

Navy Capt. Keith Allred ruled the trial for Osama bin Laden's former driver should be delayed seven weeks, until July 21, in case the Supreme Court ruling affects his case. He scheduled pretrial hearings to begin a week earlier.

A Supreme Court ruling is expected by June 30.

Defense lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose trial was scheduled to start June 2, had requested a postponement. Military prosecutors had said they were eager to go to trial.

The military judge's ruling is the latest in a series of delays for the government as it tries to prosecute Hamdan, a Yemeni, for acting as bin Laden's personal driver in Afghanistan, helping him to evade U.S. retribution following the Sept. 11 attacks.

An arraignment for the confessed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four other alleged plotters is scheduled for June 5 at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.

A Pentagon spokesman said Friday there are no plans to postpone the arraignment because of the Hamdan case ruling.

Allred said in his ruling that the postponement gives the prosecutors and defense "the benefit of a decision that may well change the tenor or conduct of the trial."

A delay, he said, also avoids the "potential embarrassment, waste of resources and prejudice to the accused," if the Supreme Court ruling forces a halt to the proceedings mid-trial.

"The accused has been in confinement for six years, and another month's wait will not prejudice any party to the case," Allred wrote.

Defense lawyer Andrea Prasow said the delay was welcome.

"We specifically sought the continuance and are very pleased that the judge agrees that all parties will benefit from the Supreme Court's guidance regarding the applicability of the Constitution to detainees held at Guantanamo," she said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Continued...