Posted on 09/22/2009 4:04:02 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was due to appear Monday along with four other alleged plotters in a military court in Guantanamo Bay.
The procedural hearing comes as President Barack Obama mulls whether to try the five before a military or a criminal court, with a decision due before mid-November.
As proceedings got under way, the judge granted a request from the Obama administration to delay hearings for another 60 days -- the third time the case will have been postponed.
Obama has promised to close by January the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba -- a symbol for many of all that was wrong with the Bush-era "war on terror" -- and has ordered a review of all cases pending against detainees.
His administration is trying to weigh whether to try the five alleged 9/11 plotters before a civilian or a military court, and the US Justice Department said last week that a decision would be made "within 60 days."
Three of the five -- Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- were also calling Monday to fire their legal team.
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