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Courtroom Sketch Draws Terror Suspect's Gripe

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The confessed mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America said a courtroom artist at his arraignment Thursday made his nose look too big.

No photographers were allowed inside the courtroom for the first appearance of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators on war crimes charges. So it fell to artist Janet Hamlin to provide the world with the first image of the al-Qaida kingpin since his capture in Pakistan in 2003.

Her rendering was reviewed to make sure it didn't include classified information, and wound up in Mohammed's hands when his defense team was given a look, said Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.

Mohammed was not pleased.

"I heard he said I should compare it to the FBI photo of him," Hamlin said, clutching a copy of the much-publicized capture photo that showed Mohammed in a T-shirt looking disheveled and unshaven.

Asked whether Mohammed had a point, Hamlin said: "I agree totally" before rushing back to the courtroom to downsize his nose.

The Associated Press

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