[An Nahar] One of the alleged 9/11 conspirators was removed from court at Guantanamo Bay for the fourth time in two days after calling the prison's commander "a war criminal" Wednesday.Yemeni suspect Ramzi Binalshibh was initially escorted out of a pre-trial hearing at the U.S. naval base in Cuba seconds after an impromptu speech in which he said the authorities had done nothing to stop sounds that he has heard in his cell.
"I have to leave. I asked you to stop these vibrations. I don't want to stay here as long as there is torture there," Binalshibh, who had already been ejected twice from the court on Tuesday, told military Judge James Pohl.
The latest hearing for Binalshibh and four other men accused of planning the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York in 2001 is being screened for news hounds at the Fort Meade military base in Maryland, via closed-circuit feed.
"If there is no power to stop this you should resign," Binalshibh said, referring to loud banging noises that he contends are preventing him from sleeping at night.
His defense team on Tuesday suggested that prison guards may be responsible for the noises, an allegation the judge said had neither been proven nor unproven.
Judge Pohl warned Binalshibh that his actions were disrupting Wednesday's proceedings and that he would be removed if he did not stop talking, but he continued.
"This is my life, this is torture. You have to stop this," Binalshibh said as he was removed from the court at the start of the morning session.
He returned to the hearing following the lunch break but spoke out again several minutes later while Colonel John Bogdan, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo Detention, was giving evidence.
"Sorry, I have to leave. The guy next to you is a war criminal," Binalshibh told Judge Pohl, referring to Bogdan in the dock.
Binalshibh, whose lawyers insist he is mentally fit, was escorted out of court by two guards and taken to the courtroom's holding cell. A request that he be allowed to return to Camp Seven, where he is normally held, was refused by the judge.
Binalshibh's alleged crimes include helping the hijackers find flight schools in the United States and of financing the airliner plot. He and his fellow accused are eventually expected to go on trial in 2015.