Guantanamo Bay

FT. MEADE, Md. - Lawyers for five alleged Sept. 11 conspirators asked a judge Tuesday to allow them to spend 48 hours every six months inside the Guantanamo Bay prison to document conditions to persuade a jury not to recommend the death penalty if their clients are convicted of capital murder. The highly unusual request came on the second day of weeklong pretrial hearings at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was challenged by military and government prosecutors who said they would permit just "one single visit," control whom the lawyers talk to and what they see, and be in charge of the defense lawyers' written notes, sketches and photographs of the prison.

FT. MEADE, Md. -- An alleged top Al Qaeda lieutenant charged with four other defendants in the Sept. 11 conspiracy angrily lashed out Monday against the military tribunal system, saying the process had zapped any desire for “us to come to court” to defend against possible death sentences in the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history. Accused Al Qaeda training camp steward Walid bin Attash apparently spoke for his co-defendants, including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, in voicing his disgust during the first day of pretrial hearings this week at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

1.Cuba has loosened restrictions on travel abroad. Cubans no longer need a letter of invitation from someone in the host country or an exit visa. 2.An amethystine python lodged itself next to an exterior engine on a Qantas Airways flight from Cairns, Australia, to Papua New Guinea. The constrictor did not survive the trip. 3.A State Department warning on Israel, issued last month, urges travelers to avoid the Gaza Strip and exercise caution in the West Bank and at religious sites in Jerusalem.

Congress and President Obama have been buffeted by criticism for the way they handled, or mishandled, legislation designed to prevent the economy from going over the so-called fiscal cliff. Comparatively, little attention has been paid to another recent failure of statesmanship by both of those branches of government: the perpetuation of laws and policies that undermine civil liberties and government transparency in the name of the "war on terror. " On Wednesday, Obama signed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, a $633-billion blueprint for Pentagon spending that is objectionable for both what it contains and what it omits.

WASHINGTON - The military judge overseeing the trial for alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four others has ruled that lawyers cannot make public even unclassified materials. The ruling by the judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, follows an order on Dec. 6 in which he directed that any evidence or discussion about harsh interrogation techniques used against the five men also be kept secret. He issued the ruling despite accusations by human rights groups that the government was trying to hide the fact the men were tortured.

Army Pvt. Steve Spofford heard the news at a 6 a.m. roll call on the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "Foraker!" the platoon sergeant called out. Silence. "Foraker!" Standing in formation, Spofford felt his mind racing. It was not at all like Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Foraker to be missing. Where could he be? No one disappears from Guantanamo, Spofford thought, least of all the soldiers in charge of guarding the captives taken during the war on terrorism. But after a search of the base and the bay that was launched that morning of Sept.

FT. MEADE, Md. - Government prosecutors in the Sept. 11 conspiracy case broadened their request for secrecy Thursday by asking for more restrictions against the public release of sensitive law enforcement material collected in the sweeping investigation into the 2001 terrorist attacks. Edward Ryan, a Justice Department prosecutor, said the government was prepared to turn over more than 200,000 separate documents to defense lawyers as part of the legal discovery process, but asked the military commission judge to bar the public release of much of that material to protect secret law enforcement investigative techniques and information about clandestine terrorist activities.

FT. MEADE, Md. — Three of the five alleged Sept. 11 conspirators, including purported mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, refused to attend a pretrial hearing Tuesday where lawyers argued over one of the significant overlying issues in their case — whether potential evidence of torture and other classified material will be discussed publicly in their trial at the U.S. naval base on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The government wants a protective order prohibiting the release of material from CIA "black sites," the secret prisons where the defendants were held before being moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.

FT. MEADE, Md. - Four of the five defendants in the Sept. 11 conspiracy case boycotted the start of Wednesday's pretrial hearing rather than sit and watch as government prosecutors try to persuade the military commission judge that classified material, including information about torture and inhumane treatment, be barred from their trial at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Only Ammar al Baluchi, a.k.a. Ali Abdul Azis Ali, an alleged Al Qaeda financier, chose to attend the session while the other four refused.

FT. MEADE, Md. - Alleged terrorist mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and two  other defendants chose to skip the proceedings Tuesday morning when pre-trial hearings for the accused conspirators in the Sept. 11 terror attacks resumed at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The hearings are dealing with crucial issues before the five defendants can be tried, including allegations of inhumane treatment, classified information and whether the U.S. Constitution governs the military commissions process.