MIAMI, May 19 (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Alberto formed off
the South Carolina coast on Saturday, bringing an early start to
the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters at the U.S. National
Hurricane Center said.

Alberto was in the Atlantic about 140 miles (225 km)
east-southeast of Charleston. Forecasters initially estimated
its top sustained winds at 45 miles per hour (75 kph) but raised
that to 60 mph (95 kph) when data from a ship in the area showed
the storm was stronger than first thought.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A U.S. military judge is considering splitting up the trial of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks because of conflicts in scheduling and strategy, lawyers in the case said on Friday.

The defendants, including the professed mastermind of the hijacked plane attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are to appear in court at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba on June 12 for the next pretrial hearing in the death penalty case.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Defense lawyers want to force a former CIA official who supervised what they called torture of al Qaeda captives to testify in the war crimes tribunal for five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks.

They argue that Jose Rodriguez, former director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, has information pertinent to the defense allegation that the government is using security classifications to hide evidence their clients were tortured.

MIAMI (Reuters) – The Pentagon revealed on Wednesday what was said when an over-cautious court security officer blocked the sound during Saturday’s arraignment of five Guantanamo prisoners charged with plotting the September 11 attacks.

It was a snide reference to Bush-era CIA interrogators, a transcript showed. Air Force Captain Michael Schwartz was explaining why defendant Walid Bin Attash was refusing to cooperate during the hearing in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks refused to answer a U.S. military judge’s questions on Saturday in a chaotic court hearing in which defense lawyers sought to cast the war crimes tribunal as unfair.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed architect of the hijacked plane attacks in 2001, and his four co-defendants exercised their right to indefinitely delay entering a plea to murder and terrorism charges that carry the death penalty.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors and defense attorneys for five defendants in the September 11 attacks dug in on Sunday for a long legal battle that one lawyer said may never be resolved.

The military tribunal is not expected to start for almost another year and if Saturday’s 13-hour arraignment was an accurate preview, the trial will be chaotic and drawn out with continuing disputes about torture and whether a military trial is appropriate.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks refused to answer a U.S. military judge’s questions on Saturday in a chaotic court hearing in which defense lawyers sought to cast the war crimes tribunal as unfair.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed architect of the hijacked plane attacks in 2001, and his four co-defendants all exercised their right to indefinitely delay entering a plea to murder and terrorism charges that carry the death penalty.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks defiantly refused to answer a U.S. military judge’s questions on Saturday in a chaotic court hearing where they deferred entering pleas.

Star defendant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed architect of the hijacked plane attacks, and his four co-defendants exercised their right to delay entering any plea to murder and terrorism charges that carry the death penalty.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – The arraignment of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks got off to a rocky start on Saturday when the defendants removed their earphones and refused to listen to a translation of the judge’s questions.

Star defendant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the September 11 hijacked plane attacks, refused to respond to the judge’s questions about whether he was satisfied with his U.S. military and civilian lawyers.

NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – The arraignment of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks got off to a rocky start on Saturday when the defendants removed their earphones and refused to listen to a translation of the judge’s questions.

Star defendant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the September 11 hijacked plane attacks, refused to respond to the judge’s questions about whether he was satisfied with his U.S. military and civilian lawyers.