The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, an attorney for one of the defendants said Sunday.
Scott Fenstermaker, who is representing Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it." The Justice Department announced earlier this month that Ali and four other men will face a civilian federal trial just blocks from the site of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York.
Ali, also known as Ammar al-Baluchi, is a nephew of professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
Mohammed, Ali and the others will explain "their assessment of American foreign policy," Fenstermaker said. "Their assessment is negative," he said.
Fenstermaker met with Ali last week at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has not spoken with the others but said the men have discussed the trial among themselves.
