GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (CN) - The government's harsh cross-examination of an earlier witness in pretrial proceedings for the five accused 9/11 conspirators quashed planned testimony Thursday from a suspected al-Qaida member not seen publically since the CIA seized him in 2002.
Abu Zubaydah, whom the government claims is a former high-ranking member of al-Qaida, was scheduled to be the second detainee to testify Thursday that accused 9/11 conspirator Ramzi bin al Shibh is not imagining the disruptive sounds and vibrations he claims harass him in the prison camp.
But after seeing Ed Ryan, trial counsel for the government, ask fellow detainee Hassan Guleed if he was a member of al-Qaida who considered the United States his enemy, attorneys for bin al Shibh and Zubaydah pulled the plug on Zubaydah's testimony before it began.
After briefly meeting with Ryan, bin al Shibh's civilian attorney Jim Harrington recommended Zubaydah's testimony be delayed. Judge Col. James Pohl, who presides over the case, told the military members in the courtroom not to bring in Zubaydah, who was waiting outside.
Harrington later told reporters the meeting with Ryan and Navy Cmdr. Patrick Flor, Zubaydah's military attorney, was an attempt to figure out how to get Zubaydah on the stand, but that it didn't get far as Ryan would have needed to abandon some of the questions he wanted to ask.
Flor said Zubaydah was disappointed to learn he would not testify, especially considering how long it has been since he has been in public.
"If he would have been able to walk in the courtroom, that would have been the first time he would have been able to walk unshackled that far in 14 years," Flor said.
Ryan delved deeply into Guleed's alleged transgressions during his cross-examination earlier in the day. Harrington objected to multiple questions, wondering what Ryan's goal was.
"I plan to spend a lot of time on this man's bias, I'll tell you that right now," Ryan said in court before questioning Guleed.
In response to his question, Guleed told Ryan he considers the United States his "friends" because they give him food in his prison camp.
The government says Guleed is an "admitted member" of al-Qaida who cased U.S. military bases for potential attacks. Like Zubaydah, he has never been charged with a crime.
When Ryan told Pohl he planned to venture into similar territory to assess Zubaydah's bias against the United States, Harrington suggested it would be better if the testimony waited until a later hearing. That way the parties would have a chance to file briefs on what to do with Harrington's direct examination if the detainee exercised his Fifth Amendment rights, Harrington said.
Flor later told reporters outside the courtroom he had been under the "strong belief" that Ryan's cross-examination would be "very limited," but that Guleed's treatment changed that perception. Harrington confirmed this, saying the government was restricted in what it could ask when bin al Shibh testified about the noises in February.
Harrington was optimistic Zubaydah will be called in July, when the case is set for another round of hearings.
Even without Zubaydah taking the stand, Harrington was able to put testimony on the record that could help establish the noises and vibrations his client has experienced in the camp are not products of a tortured mind.
