Guantanamo Court Lacks Jurisdiction To Try 9/11 Defendants, Says Defense Attorney

A risky move by one of the defense teams has led to unusual drama in the seemingly-endless pre-trial proceedings of the 9/11 war crimes case.

Defense attorney Walter Ruiz decided to roll the dice and challenge the prosecution to prove that his client, alleged 9/11 money man Mustafa al Hawsawi, should be tried as a war criminal.

Ruiz' argument was as audacious as it was simple: namely, that the U.S. was not at war with al-Qaida on 9/11, and that Hawsawi thus should not and cannot be tried by this military tribunal.

The Guantanamo war court case at the controversial American navy base on Cuban soil has slogged through five-and-a-half years of pre-trial hearings. Last week's was the 26th.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and his four co-defendants are charged with war crimes punishable by death for allegedly helping nineteen airliner hijackers kill nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. Army Col. James Pohl, the judge who presides over this massive case, that Ruiz's motion challenging the court's jurisdiction "raised a colorable issue" - meaning