Sept. 11 suspects want classified documents

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed complained loudly on Thursday about the U.S. war court system that could lead to his execution, saying his mail had been opened, he lacked writing paper and didn't understand why he could not see secret evidence.

"We are in hell," Mohammed, the highest ranking al Qaeda leader in U.S. custody, told the Guantanamo war crimes court at the remote U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Mohammed, an alleged military commander for al Qaeda who has said he planned the 2001 commercial airliner attacks on the United States, made his second appearance in the controversial court and was granted permission to act as his own lawyer.

Asked if he understood that the case could result in a death sentence, Mohammed recited from the Koran in Arabic: "Every soul tests death." He said at his previous hearing on June 5 that he wanted to be martyred.

The judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, ordered the five men accused in the September 11 attacks to appear in court separately this week to question them about allegations that they might have been bullied into forsaking military lawyers.

Each of the four men questioned said he had not been intimidated or coerced, and Mohammed said he had not bullied them. Thursday's hearing for defendant Ramzi Binalshibh was postponed pending a mental competency hearing when he refused to appear in court.

Mohammed, Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi are accused of conspiring to kill civilians in the 2001 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States, which triggered the Bush administration's global war on terrorism.

CLASSIFIED EVIDENCE

While Mohammed decided to represent himself, he complained that legal papers he received at the isolated prison camp in southeastern Cuba had been opened, that he had trouble getting paper to write on and that documents were not translated into Arabic. He told the judge he had sent him a legal motion two days ago, which Kohlmann said he had not received.

After the hearing, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. J.D. Gordon said a process has now been put in place "to ensure filings and legal mail to and from the court is handled appropriately and efficiently."

Kohlmann has explained to each of the defendants that if they act as their own lawyers, they will not see classified material or any other documents he decides are sensitive to public safety before they are presented as evidence in court.

The judge told Mohammed that was one reason that rejecting a lawyer was a "bad idea." Defense lawyers with security clearance are allowed to see classified material, although they would not be able to discuss it with Mohammed.

"It is a complicated case, is for death penalty sentence so makes no sense I cannot see my classified evidence," Mohammed complained in broken English, occasionally stroking his flowing gray beard. He wore a traditional white tunic and white skullcap and headband.

Bin Attash, who appeared before Kohlmann in a separate hearing on Thursday, lodged a similar complaint.

"If I am going to receive the death sentence this evidence will go with me," he said. "It will be better protected than in the hands of the FBI or the CIA."

Defense lawyers said the complaints highlighted problems with a case that has been called the most complex criminal investigation in U.S. history. It is being heard before the first U.S. war crimes tribunals since World War Two.

Lawyer David Nevin called the process "very, very unfair."

"Before we execute people we want to do it right and this process is proceeding in a way that's not right," he said.

The mental state of Binalshibh, who is accused of serving as a liaison between al Qaeda leaders and the hijackers, has been a key issue in the proceedings.

He attended the June 5 hearing but wore leg chains bolted to the floor while his co-defendants were unshackled in the court. Lawyers said he was receiving psychotropic medication.

Human rights monitor Anthony Romero of the American Civil Liberties Union said the postponement of his hearing raised "very significant questions" about whether Binalshibh should appear before a military commission.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)