No Internet for Mohammed

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Oct. 12 -- Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the professed mastermind of the 2001 attacks on the United States, will not be allowed Internet access inside his Guantanamo Bay cell after a U.S. military judge ruled that Mohammed does not need it to prepare for his death penalty trial.

In denying Mohammed's request, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann said that the defendant knew he would face restrictions at the military prison when he chose to act as his own attorney. The Oct. 6 ruling, which also applies to four co-defendants, was posted Sunday on a Pentagon Web site.

The five defendants face charges including conspiracy, hijacking and terrorism for the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

The government said it was providing the men with laptop computers so they could review the evidence, but prosecutors argued at a pretrial hearing last month that giving them access to the outside world would pose a severe security risk.

Kohlmann also rejected the inmates' requests for office equipment such as printers and special provisions to speak with their family members by telephone. But he ruled the men are entitled to have additional resources installed on their laptops including a legal dictionary, the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Conventions.

Three of the five defendants, including Mohammed, are representing themselves, with Pentagon-appointed lawyers serving as standby counsel.