GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- In a stunning rebuke, a six-member U.S. military jury Thursday ignored a Pentagon prosecutor's plea for a 30-year term and sentenced Osama bin Laden's driver to 66 months in prison.

With time served, Salim Hamdan, 40, will be eligible for release before New Year's Eve.

Unclear was whether the Yemeni, whom the prosecutor called a danger to society, would be sent home -- or kept as an enemy combatant.

Under White House detention doctrine developed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Pentagon reserves the right to hold war-on-terror captives indefinitely -- or until the conflict with al Qaeda ends.

Even the judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, was stumped in explaining to Hamdan what would become of him when his sentence came to an end.

''I wish you Godspeed, Mr. Hamdan,'' the military judge told the convicted terrorist. ``I hope the day comes when you return to your wife and your daughters and your country.''

To this, the father of two with a fourth-grade education who drove the al Qaeda founder for five years replied, ``God willing.''

Then he was led back to his cell, after trading his traditional Yemeni robe for the tan prison camp uniform of a compliant captive.

''Where else in the world does the judge not know what will happen to the accused at the completion of his sentence?'' said Ben Wizner, an observer from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The dilemma capped a day of high drama in which six officers who a day earlier had convicted Hamdan of providing material support for terror heard his apology.

He had taken the job for money, he said. ``It was a sorry or sad thing to see innocent people killed.''

Prosecutor John Murphy, on loan from the Justice Department, labeled Hamdan a dangerous ''al Qaeda warrior'' and urged the jury to sentence him to no less than 30 years, if not life.

Hamdan's attorneys cast him as a scapegoat who was being prosecuted for the crimes of his boss.

Within 70 minutes, the jury returned its verdict -- 5 ½ years in prison. Wracked with emotion, Hamdan rose to his feet and twice more apologized for any pain his work as a $200-a-month driver had caused.

Then he thanked them, ``for what you have done for me.''

He is the first war-on-terror captive convicted at the first contested U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War II.

In response to a question sent to the judge, the jury knew before handing down the sentence that Hamdan had already received credit toward his conviction for 61 months and eight days.

A day earlier, the panel convicted Hamdan of providing material support for terror as bin Laden's driver and bodyguard from 1996 to his capture in Afghanistan in 2001.

NO EXTENSIONS

Under the military system, the sentence itself cannot be extended in appeal, only shortened. Still to be decided was whether Hamdan would be released after the sentence.

''We don't want to speculate,'' said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman.

Still, the Pentagon viewed the outcome as ''a vindication of the system,'' Gordon said. ``He had a full and fair trial.''

NOT A `SCAPEGOAT'

Case prosecutor Murphy said afterward he meant it when he told the jury that Hamdan was a danger to society.

''The evidence was pretty clear that he actually supported terrorism. Scapegoat doesn't come into the equation,'' added a fellow prosecutor, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Stone. ``He was charged, he was found guilty.''

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