FACTBOX: Rules for Guantanamo war court

(Reuters) - U.S. military prosecutors sought murder and conspiracy charges on Monday against the alleged planner of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and five other prisoners held at the Guantanamo naval base and will ask that they be executed if convicted.

Here are some of the rules for the special war tribunals where they face trial at the U.S. base in Cuba:

* They will be tried by a military judge who decides what evidence can be admitted for use at trial.

* A U.S. military lawyer will be assigned to represent each defendant. Civilian lawyers who receive security clearance from the U.S. military can join the defense team as advisers, but the U.S. government will not pay for their services or expenses.

* Death penalty cases will be tried by a jury made up of at least 12 U.S. military officers and two-thirds of them must agree in order to convict. A unanimous decision is required in order to impose the death penalty.

* Each conviction is to be automatically reviewed by a specially created military appeals court made up of at least three appellate military judges.

* Subsequent appeals can be filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Source: U.S. Department of Defense)

(Reporting by Jane Sutton, editing by Michael Christie)