9/11 defendant mounts vigorous defense

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/...t-11-Trial.php

The Associated Press
Published: September 24, 2008

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba: The proclaimed architect of the Sept. 11 attacks once declared that he wanted to be executed and become a martyr. But Khalid Sheikh Mohammed mounted a vigorous defense during a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, even asking the military judge to remove himself.

Acting as his own attorney, Mohammed's readiness to raise challenges on behalf of himself and his four co-defendants ensured that their trial won't be short. The case now has little chance of going to trial before the end of the Bush administration.

Charles "Cully" Stimson, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said Mohammed aims to use the military tribunal to rally al-Qaida supporters.

"KSM will mess with the system to the extent he can, and he will use the trial as a platform to speak to those who look up to him as a hero," Stimson told The Associated Press in an e-mail.

Mohammed on Wednesday asked Judge Ralph Kohlmann, a Marine colonel, to recuse himself, arguing that Kohlmann sees the defendants as "Islamic extremists."

I don't believe you respect Muslims and therefore won't provide me a just ruling," said Mohammed, who wore a black turban above a long gray beard streaked with white, using halting English.

The judge dismissed Mohammed's challenges of his impartiality and refused to recuse himself.

At Mohammed's arraignment in June — his first public appearance since he was captured in Pakistan in 2003 — Kohlmann warned him that he faces the death penalty for his confessed role as mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed 2,973 people. Mohammed said he would welcome becoming a martyr.

The defendants, who all face the death penalty if convicted, have not yet entered a plea.

But in court, Mohammed and his four co-defendants pressed requests for computer equipment, translated court transcripts and telephone access. All five are held with other "high-value" detainees in a secret location on this U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.

"This is going to be a long, long, long battle before these accused get sentenced," said Army Maj. Jon Jackson, an attorney for defendant Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi. His client allegedly provided the Sept. 11 hijackers with money and Western-style clothing.

Complaining of botched Arabic translations in the courtroom, the detainees also asked for the proceedings to be suspended until more competent interpreters are appointed. Mohammed filed a handwritten note in support of the motion, saying he has to resort to using "broken English."

Kohlmann did not immediately rule on the defendants' requests, but lead prosecutor Robert Swann said the government is preparing to issue each defendant a laptop computer loaded with 40,782 pages of documents and more than 50 videos.

Swann said they could not safely be provided with requested printers or other equipment with electrical cords, presumably because of the danger of suicide.

Four prisoners at Guantanamo, which currently holds 255 men suspected of links to the Taliban or al-Qaida, have killed themselves since the military offshore prison opened in January 2002.