Military officials and a Department of Justice attorney jousted today about attorney-client communications with the defense team for the alleged mastermind of the U.S.S. Cole bombings, whose pretrial proceedings began at Guantanamo Bay.

The defense attorney for Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri, the alleged al-Qaeda operative charged with overseeing the attack, made a variety of requests, according to the Armed Forces Press Service (AFPS): he wanted additional electronic security to guarantee that defense communications were not monitored by the government; wanted his client to be unrestrained during their meetings, which he requested take place in locked rooms; and challenged a government policy of reviewing detainee mail that creates the opportunity for legal communications to be seen by the government.