Surprising help at Sept. 11 trial

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – A military judge Monday enlisted the help of self-described Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in coaxing an accused co-conspirator out of his detention cell so the trial into the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., can proceed.

After a long day of procedural wrangling, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann ordered Ramzi Binalshibh to be “extracted” from his cell by force if necessary and brought into the military commission courtroom at the U.S. naval base this morning. Binalshibh, as he has in the past, had refused to leave his cell and go to court, this time for the first of three days of motions in the case against five accused Sept. 11 plotters.

The prosecutor, Army Col. Robert L. Swann, told the judge his office tried to get the Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, which is in charge of detainee affairs, to force Binalshibh out of his cell at a secret location here and into court. But he said Guantanamo officials refused, saying they didn’t have the authority to do so.

Binalshibh’s defense lawyers opposed the extraction and asked the judge for a stay, saying Binalshibh’s refusal to leave his cell might have something to do with psychotropic medications he is taking – including one prescribed for schizophrenia – and that the court needs to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial before the proceedings continue.

Both sides said Binalshibh’s attendance is important because he and the others face possible execution if they are convicted by a tribunal, and his failure to attend would undermine the legitimacy of the much-criticized process.

Prosecutors say Binalshibh, a Yemeni, worked as a close aide to Mohammed and helped the Sept. 11 hijackers enter the United States and find flight schools. He said so himself in a taped interview made before his capture in Pakistan in 2003.

As Kohlmann listened to the opposing sides, Mohammed – who has confessed to dozens of al-Qaida attacks as its operations chief – politely raised his hand and began to speak. He was cut off but said through a lawyer that he too wanted his friend to appear in court and volunteered to visit Binalshibh in his cell along with the other defendants so they could talk him into it.

“They might well be able to convince him … and it would be a win-win situation for everybody,” said David Nevin, a civilian lawyer assisting Mohammed, quoted the chief defendant as saying. Mohammed is one of three of the accused men who are representing themselves but have lawyers assigned to help them.

The judge ruled out the visit and denied the stay request. But he did allow Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi to write letters to Binalshibh asking him to please show up in court without a fight. By evening, they had done so and the letters were delivered to Binalshibh.