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Five Detainees Charged in Sept. 11 Attacks to Be Arraigned
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Walid Bin'Attash of Yemen is accused of running an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan where two hijackers trained. Ramzi Binalshib, also Yemeni, is alleged to have assisted the hijackers in getting flight training and financing. The Pakistani Ali Abdul Aziz Ali is alleged to have sent $120,000 to the hijackers and to have helped them enter the United States, and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia is accused of helping the hijackers obtain money, Western clothing, traveler's checks and credit cards.
The detainees' appearances in court, which could give them a platform to verbally attack the United States, will also mark the first public sighting of a detainee held in the CIA's secret detention program.
All five were once held at secret overseas prisons, and some were subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding, though officials said it is unclear whether the public will hear about their experiences: A security officer will be able to hit a button to silence the proceedings to protect classified information.
The hearings are scheduled to take place in a new Guantanamo Bay courtroom, a boxy structure surrounded by concertina wire at the end of an old airstrip. The military is flying to the base about 60 members of the domestic and international media to view the arraignment.
Military officials have said that the detainees must appear in the courtroom for their arraignments, so it is possible that they will be forcibly removed from their cells and escorted in against their will, as has occurred before. Although the judge in the case will follow a "script" used in previous arraignments, it is unclear how long the proceedings will last, especially if the defendants speak.
"We have lots of indicia of what may happen, but nobody knows until we're in court," Berrigan said. "The only thing that is certain is that it's unpredictable."
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
