GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - A military judge is warning the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and his four co-defendants that they won't succeed in stopping their hearing today at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
When they took off earphones that provide Arabic translations, the judge brought translators into the courtroom to translate out loud. The defendants have also been refusing to answer questions.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants appeared before a military tribunal for arraignment on charges that include 2,976 counts of murder for the 2001 attacks. It's their first public appearance in more than three years.
The hearing quickly bogged down before they could be arraigned. One prisoner (Walid bin Attash) was put in a restraint chair for unspecified reasons, then removed from it after he agreed to behave. Lawyers for all defendants complained that the prisoners were prevented from wearing the civilian clothes of their choice.
Mohammed wore a white turban in court; his flowing beard, which had appeared to be graying in earlier hearings and photos, was streaked with red henna.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
