Charges dropped for 20th alleged 9/11 hijacker
But five other suspects, including the alleged mastermind, face the death penalty at the troubled Guantanamo Bay tribunal.
One judge in the Guantanamo Bay military tribunal has threatened to suspend the case against a Canadian terrorism suspect if Pentagon prosecutors continue withholding evidence from the defense.Another judge has disqualified an Air Force general from advising the war-crimes court because of what he agreed was the general's politically motivated "unlawful command influence."On Tuesday, the Pentagon lawyer in charge of the military tribunal approved charges that carry the death penalty against confessed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators but dropped them against the alleged "20th hijacker" without saying why. Mohammed Qahtani in February had been designated for prosecution along with the others.As the six-year effort to bring alleged terrorists to justice crawls toward its first trial next month, military jurists have been distancing themselves from the prosecutorial juggernaut that appeared to have been launched earlier this year to bring swift convictions before the November election.Tribunal Convening Authority Susan J. Crawford's approval of the capital charges against Mohammed and four other detainees sets off a 30-day clock for their arraignment. But defense lawyers have signaled that they will challenge procedures and the admissibility of evidence in their cases, which will probably delay the trial until at least the end of the year.Qahtani's Army lawyer, Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, said Crawford seemed to have recognized that his client couldn't be prosecuted because of the way he had been treated at Guantanamo. "An objective view of the evidence in his case . . . would convince any attorney with criminal law experience that the charges should be dropped," Broyles said.The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights said a leaked interrogation log showed that Qahtani had been subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, attacks by dogs, threats against his family members and further threats that he would be sent to foreign countries that condone torture.Crawford dismissed the charges "without prejudice," meaning they could be refiled later. Military tribunal rules "do not require the convening authority to explain her decisions, and she did not do so in this case," said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.Human rights lawyers cast the turnabout as tantamount to admitting that any evidence against the Saudi prisoner had been obtained through torture and was inadmissible.Military and civilian defense lawyers have complained for years that terrorism suspects cannot get fair trials at Guantanamo. Hearsay evidence and that obtained through coercive interrogation techniques are admissible in tribunal proceedings if the judge deems it necessary. Defendants can be prevented from seeing confidential evidence or confronting accusers whose identities the prosecution considers protected.Crawford's decision against pursuing Qahtani may suggest uncertainty that the judge will admit the reported confessions obtained via interrogation."The government is finally admitting what we have been saying all along: that the government's claims against our client were based on unreliable evidence obtained through torture at Guantanamo," said a statement from the Center for Constitutional Rights, where attorneys have represented Qahtani in habeas proceedings since 2005.The decision followed a ruling Friday by the judge in the case of a former driver for Osama bin Laden that Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann had shown a lack of independence as legal advisor to Crawford. Hartmann must be replaced before the June 2 start of the trial for Yemeni suspect Salim Ahmed Hamdan, ruled Navy Capt. Keith J. Allred.At a hearing last month, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor, testified that Hartmann had pushed him to prioritize "sexy" cases in which defendants were accused of killing or wounding Americans to boost public opinion of the tribunal during this election year.Allred's decision to bar Hartmann affects only the Hamdan case, but defense attorneys for other Guantanamo detainees charged at Hartmann's urging -- including Mohammed and the other "high-value detainees" -- planned to pursue the same exclusion.It was Allred who dismissed charges against Hamdan and Canadian terrorism suspect Omar Khadr nearly a year ago on grounds that the war-crimes court lacked jurisdiction. That ruling stunned tribunal advocates and forced them to quickly convene an appeals court that revised how jurisdiction is determined.A week ago, Army Col. Peter Brownback III, the judge hearing Khadr's case, ordered prosecutors to provide the defense with classified prison camp records that the defense lawyers had sought to examine allegations that Khadr was mistreated after his 2002 capture in Afghanistan. Brownback had instructed the government in March to hand over the records and, after a series of contentious exchanges in recent months, said that if the documents weren't in the hands of the defense by May 22, "we stop."Upon learning that the five Sept. 11 suspects had been charged, Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, complained that security clearances for volunteer defense lawyers were being blocked by the Pentagon. "This raises very serious questions when civilian lawyers and civil liberties organizations step up to the plate in an inherently unfair and fundamentally flawed process and the government still impedes our efforts to do vigorous lawyering," he said.
Five men out of six accused of involvement in the September 11 attacks have been referred to trial by the Guantanamo military commission. The war crimes tribunal also dropped charges against Mohammed Qahtani, who is alleged to have been the '20th hijacker', although they were dropped "without prejudice" so the Saudi Arabian can still be re-charged.

All six men are currently being held in maximum security at the United States naval base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. Under the 2006 Military Commissions Act those charged must be arraigned within 30 days and have their trial commenced within four months.

The men are accused of plotting the attacks, in which four passenger airliners were hijacked in US airspace. One was flown into each tower of the World Trade Center, one was flown into the Pentagon and the fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Almost 3,000 people were killed. 19 hijackers were involved, with one aircraft having four hijackers compared to five on the others, triggering theories concerning a 20th hijacker. It is alleged that Qahtani missed out on this role because he was unable to get past anti-immigration measures to upon arrival in Florida, where head hijacker Mohammed Atta is said to have been waiting.

Those who are set to go to trial are alleged members of Al-Qaeda, who were found to be responsible for the attacks. They are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi and alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

They have all been charged with conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property, terrorism and material support for terrorism while all but Hawsawi are charged with hijacking aircraft as well.

Some concern has been made over alleged human rights abuses. Officials have said themselves that Qahtani was harshly treated in imprisonment and Khalid was subjected to waterboarding.

Qahtani also withdrew an earlier confession saying it was obtained from him under torture. He submitted a detailed written account describing abuse he alleges against him including beatings, being forced into uncomfortable positions for long periods, threats with dogs, exposure to music at high volume, being subjected to freezing temperatures and being forced to appear naked in front of female personnel.

The arraignments will take place at the high security Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, and will mark the first public appearances of the men since their capture. The trial will mark the first in front of a US war crimes tribunal since World War Two, and the first capital one at this tribunal as prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all of the men.