The jury found Hamdan's work supported terror -- but did not conspire in it -- after trial testimony showed he learned of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks afterward, while driving the boss and some of the architects.

Hamdan had maintained his innocence of war crimes throughout his detention. Then, during sentencing, he apologized for any pain caused by his work.

He said he worked for money, not ideology.

Pentagon prosecutors asked the military jury to sentence him to 30 years in prison. The jury scoffed, ordering him to serve a total of 66 months confinement knowing that, with credit for time served, Hamdan would go home to Yemen before Bush left the White House.

Yet to be seen is whether the transfer represented a breakthrough in long-stalled U.S. efforts to get Yemen to establish a program for returning jihadists now held at Guantánamo.

Yemenis represent the largest single detainee population -- about 100 of the remaining 250 captives at Guantánamo.

Hamdan was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 and sent to the remote prison camps in May 2002 -- soon after the Pentagon closed its iconic Camp X-Ray in favor of the sprawling Camp Delta overlooking the Caribbean.

''Trials by military commission demonstrate that the United States is committed to holding dangerous terror suspects accountable for their actions,'' said a Pentagon statement late Tuesday.

In sending Hamdan home, the departing administration spared President-elect Barack Obama the decision of when and how.

Obama has said he would move deliberately to close the camps that had been the source of international condemnation.

Moreover, Bush administration lawyers had argued that their detention doctrine meant the United States could hold Hamdan indefinitely as an ``enemy combatant.''

Instead, Hamdan was returned to his homeland almost seven years to the day of his capture.

Mizer, who is now defending another alleged al Qaeda plotter, a Pakistani facing possible military execution, if convicted, said Hamdan never really understood what he came to represent for Guantánamo's critics.

''He's a symbol of the abuse of power, a symbol of what government will do when we don't adhere to our principles, our Constitution, to the rule of law,'' said Mizer. ``I think the good news is this is a significant first step into closing Guantánamo and to returning America to the rule of law. That's the good news to take away.''

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