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CIA Suspects Granted Access to Lawyers

'High value' detainees include 911 'mastermind'

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 28, 2007 3:51 AM CDT

(Newser) – US officials have granted 14 "high-value" al-Qaeda suspects, transferred to Guantanamo Bay after years in secret CIA prisons, access to lawyers to represent them at future military trials. The suspects include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 911 attacks, and others once close to Osama  bin Laden, reports the Washington Post.

The suspects have been given forms to apply for legal representation. "It was the intent all along that they would have a right to counsel," said an official. Contact with lawyers would be the first time the suspects have seen anyone other than their captors or  members of the Red Cross since they were detained.

A detainee shields his face as he peers out through the so-called bean hole which is used to pass food and other items into cells, within the detention compound at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, in this Dec. 4, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a U.S. Dept...
A detainee shields his face as he peers out through the so-called "bean hole" which is used to pass food and other items into cells, within the detention compound at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba,...   (Associated Press)
A Guantanamo detainee, center, is escorted by US military personnel away from the dental clinic, at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba, in this May 15, 2007 file photo. For some men trying to get out of Guantanamo, the biggest obstacle can be another detainee. Prisoners often confront allegations leveled...
A Guantanamo detainee, center, is escorted by US military personnel away from the dental clinic, at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba, in this May 15, 2007 file photo. For some men trying to get out...   (Associated Press)
In a file photo Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003, in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. The Pentagon has released a censored audiotape of the suspected Sept. 11 mastermind  _ deleting a part officials said could...
In a file photo Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003, in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. The Pentagon has released a censored...   (Associated Press)
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