Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba:
A lawyer for one of five defendants in the September 11 war crimes tribunal said on Monday that FBI agents questioned a member of his defense team, apparently in an investigation related to the handling of evidence, a revelation that brought an abrupt halt to proceedings.
Attorney James Harrington told the judge presiding over the case at the Guantanamo Bay naval base that the agents asked about activities of others on his defense team as well as of people working for other defendants.
"Obviously, to say that this is a chilling experience for all of us is a gross understatement," he told the judge.
In court, Harrington did not mention the nature of the FBI's questions, but he told The Associated Press later that they had to do with a number of issues, including the release in January of writings by the lead defendant in the case, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to two media outlets.
Other attorneys in court disclosed that the person who was questioned is the defense security officer, who assists with the handling of classified material in the death-penalty terrorism trial. The questioning occurred April 6 in the United States, not on the U.S. base in Cuba.
The disclosure came at the start of what was supposed to be a mental competency hearing for Harrington's client, Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni accused of providing logistical support to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist plot. The lawyer said the apparent investigation of defense team members will require review by the court, and possibly the appointment of additional counsel for the defendants, and has created a potential conflict of interest for the attorneys.
"If we are the subject of some inquiry or investigation or whatever by the FBI or some other government agency, then we have an interest in how that comes out and the question becomes whose interest do we protect first, ours or our clients," he said.
The chief prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, told the court that the prosecution was not aware of the questioning by the FBI until being informed by the defense. He urged the judge to continue with the scheduled competency hearing, which had already delayed the long-stalled trial by military commission for five Guantanamo prisoners charged with planning and aiding the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, did not say how he would handle the defense request to put proceedings on hold. He abruptly adjourned for a closed session called by the prosecution to discuss another matter and said court would reconvene Tuesday.
Prosecutors earlier were seeking to determine how a document written by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attack and other plots, was obtained in January by a British TV station and The Huffington Post without apparently going through the normal security screening process.
A Defense Department spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, said the prosecution in the case has not alleged any misconduct on the part of the defense related to the release of the Mohammed document.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mohammed and his four co-defendants face charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder in violation of the law of war and could get the death penalty if convicted. A trial date has not been set.