Jun 5, 2008, 18:16 GMT
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, made a ringing debut in court by declaring he wants to become a martyr and hopes he receives the death penalty from the US military tribunal that got underway Thursday.
Mohammed made his first public appearance at the military commissions on this remote part of Cuba since he was captured five years ago, waterboarded by the CIA and, according to the Pentagon, admitted to planning from 'A to Z' the attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
Wearing a white turban and tunic and sporting a thick, long beard, Mohammed was calm while he defiantly challenged the legal proceedings against him and four alleged al-Qaeda cohorts in the biggest trial yet of suspects believed to have played a key role in the attacks.
He told the judge, Marine Colonel Ralph Kohlmann, that his Muslim faith prevented him from acknowledging the legitimacy of his trial and declined to accept US military-appointed attorneys.
Mohammed, 43, faces 169 counts of murder, conspiracy, hijacking and other war crimes charges, and all five men could receive the death penalty if convicted.
'This is what I wish,' Mohammed said in English. 'I have been looking to be martyr for long time.'
A second defendant, Walid bin Attash, followed Mohammed's lead by declining legal representation before the session went into recess. The refusal of the suspects could complicate the legal proceedings against them and prompt more criticism from civil rights groups monitoring the process.
Kohlmann patiently, repeatedly and at length explained to Mohammed and Attash that the consequences of turning down legal representation could cost them their lives, but both men refused to heed the warnings and affirmed their desire to speak for themselves.
The high-profile case of Mohammed, known as KSM, and the four co- defendants brings the spotlight back to the controversial military commissions ordered by President George W Bush for prosecuting suspects in the war on terrorism, but also highlights a major challenge his administration faces in waging the broader global war on terrorism.
The commissions have been under fire from the beginning by civil rights groups who allege they have been designed to produce convictions without affording the detainees the legal rights common in civilian courts. The first process set up by Bush got tied down by challenges in federal courts and was struck down in 2006 by the Supreme Court, which ruled they violated the Constitution and Geneva Conventions.
Months later the White House announced a revised process and complied with the Supreme Court ruling by successfully securing congressional approval. Still, there has been only one conviction so far, and that was the case of Australian David Hicks, who pleaded guilty and served out the remainder of his sentence in his home country.
Later this month, the Supreme Court is due to decide on another challenge to the commissions. A ruling against the White House could give detainees the right to challenge their detention in federal courts, a ruling that would almost certainly ensure the trial of the most notorious suspects in the September 11 attacks won't be completed - if at all - until after Bush leaves office in January.
At the same time, civil rights advocates charge any convictions obtained by the administration under the military commissions will not be warmly received because of the lack of credibility in the process and allegations defendants were tortured - charges the White House rejects.
'Had (the Bush administration) from the beginning held these trials in a credible system, it's very likely they would be long over, and the United States could have moved on, and there wouldn't be so much attention on all of the problems with Guantanamo,' said Jennifer Daskal, a senior counselor at Human Rights Watch in Washington.
The military defends the tribunals, saying it has gone to great lengths to ensure the proceedings are sound while protecting US national security. The defendants and their attorneys will be allowed to view all evidence - including classified material - and to question witnesses against them, Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, the Pentagon's top advisor for the commissions, told reporters before the trial got underway.
The process is 'fair, just and transparent,' Hartmann said.
Even if KSM and his alleged co-conspirators are acquitted, it's likely they will remain in US custody as enemy combatants, representing another challenge the United States and its global partners face inn the war on terrorism. Unlike conventional wars, where there is a clear beginning and a clear end - when prisoners of war are returned to their home countries - the war on terrorism is an endless battle.
'If you let the wrong guy go in a criminal justice system, the number of people at risk is relatively small,' said John Pike, a security analyst at GlobalSecurity.org outside Washington. Pike said that with high-level terrorists responsible for large-scale attacks there is a greater risk of allowing their release under the higher conviction standards in a federal justice system.
'They have the capacity to do considerable harm,' Pike said. 'There are no easy solutions here.'
Your Talkback on this Story