GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba: A US military judge barred the Pentagon Tuesday from using a Guantanamo prisoner’s confession to Afghan authorities as trial evidence, saying it was obtained through torture.

Army Col. Stephen Henley said Mohammed Jawad’s statements ‘were obtained by physical intimidation and threats of death which, under the circumstances, constitute torture.’ Jawad’s defence attorney, Air Force Maj. David Frakt, told The Associated Press that the ruling removes ‘the lynchpin of the government’s case.’