Gitmo defendants no-shows at hearing

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, July 16 (UPI) -- The five alleged conspirators in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks boycotted a pre-trial hearing at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison Thursday.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Robert Swann, the prosecutor in the case, said the hearing couldn't proceed without the presence of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the attacks, and his four alleged co-conspirators, The Miami Herald reported.

Three of the defendants are acting as their own attorneys.

The hearing was meant to determine what information would be made available to military defense lawyers for two of the five men -- Ramzi Binalshibh and Mustafa al-Hawsawi -- as part of a proceeding to determine the men's competency to stand trial and represent themselves.

Defense lawyers said the men were told on the eve of the hearing they would be barred from speaking in court, the Herald reported.

The cases being heard by military commissions at Guantanamo Bay have been lurching forward as President Barack Obama's administration reviews how to try terror suspects detained at the Guantanamo facility, CNN said.

One of the prosecutors, Marine Capt. Seamus Quinn, said the administration already has made some refinements to the commissions. Defense lawyers disagree, CNN said.

In one case, a military lawyer suggested the charge against his client be dismissed because it may lack validity in a military commission trial, but the judge ruled for the prosecution. In two other cases, lawyers said constant delays in trying their clients weren't fair.