GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- A Marine judge reopened hearings at the 9/11 terror case Wednesday, with a plea to an alleged Saudi Arabian financier to accept the services of a Pentagon lawyer.

The Saudi, Mustafa Hawsawi, 39, faces death if convicted of conspiring to help the hijackers who staged the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that killed 2,973 people.

''If it sounds like I am trying to talk you out of representing yourself that would be accurate,'' the judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, told Hawsawi.

''I think it would be unwise to represent yourself,'' Kohlmann warned.

Kohlmann called the hearings this week to determine if alleged al Qaeda kingpin Khalid Sheik Mohammed bullied his co-defendants into firing their lawyers.

The judge asked the Saudi whether he felt threatened or intimidated by the other accused, several times.

''Absolutely not,'' Hawsawi replied.

At issue is whether the five men accused in the crime acted with free will, and understanding, at their June 5 arraignment when each one successively refused his military defense counsel.

Mohammed went first, and said he would welcome Muslim martyrdom, and then each man who followed echoed his desire, if not to die, then to defend himself at trial.

All appeared to reject the legitimacy of the first U.S. war crimes tribunals since World War II.

Wednesday, out of earshot of the other four defendants, Kohlmann asked Hawsawi whether he would accept the services of an Army lawyer, Maj. Jon Jackson of Memphis, Tenn.

The Saudi replied that he hadn't yet decided.

Hawsawi allegedly helped the hijackers with money, Western clothing and other finances, in the days and months ahead of the mass murder.

Kohlmann warned him that both the national security case involving classified information was ``legally and factually complex.''

Jackson elaborated that Hawsawi sought help from an Egyptian attorney -- he did not name him -- and said he and his co-counsel, Navy Lt. Gretchen Sosbee, were trying to find the man.

It was not clear Wednesday whether an Egyptian attorney might be able to obtain the security clearances to reach this remote U.S. Navy base.

Meantime, while he was deciding, Kohlmann told Hawsawi that Jackson and Sosbee would serve as his lawyers.

Hawsawi appeared irked. He answered the judge politely -- mostly with ''yes'' and ''no'' -- but protested that he found the U.S. military process so far to be unfair.

Hawsawi specifically complained to the judge that he and his fellow four accused had sought to consult each other and were denied.

Also accused, but absent from the room were: Mohammed, known to the CIA by his initials, KSM; Waleed Bin Attash, a Yemeni who allegedly ran the Afghanistan paramilitary camps where some of the hijackers trained; Ramzi bin al Shibh, who June 5 told the court that he had wanted to take part in the 9/11 attacks, but could not obtain a U.S. visa; and Ammar al Baluchi, KSM's nephew, who also allegedly helped with 9/11 financing.

Hawsawi sat in the courtroom, unshackled, in a traditional Saudi gown, a scarf draped over his head -- the same attire he wore at his June 5 arraignment, the first public glimpse of the men the Bush administration said orchestrated the terror attacks.

The CIA shipped the Saudi to military custody here in September 2006 along with 13 other so-called High Value Detainees, on orders from President Bush to prepare them for trial by Military Commission. He was held and interrogated for years in secret, without access to attorneys.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@