FBI questions disrupt 9/11 case at Guantánamo

GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- Lawyers for Guantánamo prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 attacks say the FBI has questioned more support staff on their legal teams, which might prompt a new detour in an already snarled case as the war crimes tribunal reconvened here yesterday.

The trial by military commission of the five prisoners was derailed in April when the attorney for one defendant revealed that a member of his support staff was questioned at home by the FBI and asked to provide information on others who work for the defense.

Lawyers say they have since learned that at least three others were questioned in separate investigations over the past year. They want the judge to conduct a full hearing with witnesses into the issue, despite government assurances that the investigations have been closed.

"The facts as we know them give rise to a potential conflict of interest, and when that happens, U.S. Supreme Court decisions are clear: The judge has an obligation to conduct a thorough inquiry," said David Nevin, lead attorney for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Little is publicly known about the two investigations. Lawyers say the FBI questioned an investigator and a classified material analyst for the team representing defendant Ramzi Binalshibh; an investigator for defendant Mustafa al-Hawsawi; and a translator on the team representing Mohammed, who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks.

James Harrington, a lawyer for Binalshibh, told the court his investigator denied speaking to the FBI and has left his team. "We have had basically a spy within our team for a number of months," he said.

Prosecutors have said the FBI questioned the evidence technician as part of a preliminary investigation into mishandling of classified evidence and that the probe ended without charges.

Nevin told the court that the questioning of support personnel has prompted him to curb his defense activities and cancel an investigative trip to the Middle East, out of fear that he is under scrutiny. "I am trimming my sails. I am pulling my punches," he said.

The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, adjourned the hearing without issuing a ruling.