Let me phone home, Guantanamo defendant asks

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - An accused al Qaeda conspirator from Sudan asked a Guantanamo war crimes court on Thursday to let him phone home so his family can find him a lawyer to replace the U.S. military attorney he rejects.

The request came after defendant Ibrahim al Qosi said he did not want any military or civilian lawyer appointed by the U.S. government to defend him on charges of providing material support for terrorism and conspiring with al Qaeda.

The judge, Air Force Lt. Col. Nancy Paul, asked if he wanted to exercise his right to hire a civilian lawyer of his own choosing, at his own expense.

Qosi said that would be difficult given his circumstances.

"I've been imprisoned here for 6 and 1/2 years. I have no contact with the outside world," Qosi said through an Arabic-English interpreter. "The only way to accomplish that issue is to allow me to contact my family in Sudan ... They will be the ones to choose that lawyer."

The judge ordered Qosi's military lawyer, whom he has refused to even see, to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross to arrange a phone call with Qosi's relatives in Khartoum by July 1.

The lawyer, Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, said the Sudanese bar association had expressed interest in helping Qosi find another lawyer.

Some prisoners facing trial in the Guantanamo court at the U.S. naval base in Cuba have been allowed to receive phone calls from their families. The military said in March it was working out a system with the ICRC to allow others to talk by phone with their relatives at least twice a year.

"They are allowing these things nowadays to a lot of prisoners," said Qosi, a 47-year-old with a gray beard and white skull cap.

DOES NOT TRUST

It was unclear whether Qosi wanted a Sudanese lawyer or merely one not appointed by the U.S. government, which he repeatedly said he does not trust. Foreign attorneys can join prisoners' defense teams if they obtain security clearances from the U.S. military.

Qosi's exchange with the judge was markedly different from his arraignment hearing last month, during which he praised Osama bin Laden and accused the United States of hypocrisy in preaching human rights to other countries.

He said then that he would boycott future proceedings, but said on Thursday he would participate if granted his choice of lawyers.

Qosi was born in Khartoum, a one-time base for bin Laden, and is accused of serving as a bodyguard, driver and logistics operative for the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

The charges allege he served on an al Qaeda mortar crew and helped bin Laden and his family escape into the Tora Bora mountains after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that followed the September 11 attacks in 2001. He would face life in prison if convicted.