FORT MEADE, Maryland: The Saudi man charged with masterminding the 2000 USS Cole suicide bombing that killed 17 US sailors and wounded 37 will keep his court-appointed lawyer despite reservations, he and his attorney told a US military tribunal on Wednesday.

Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006, told a preliminary hearing that he had wanted to dismiss the death penalty attorney, Richard Kammen, because he did not speak Arabic and was not able to tell him what transpired in closed-court sessions.

US Army Col. Judge James Pohl on Monday recessed the court for two days because Nashiri, 49, wanted his counsel changed, but both the defendant and his lawyer said the issues had been resolved.

“During the last two days, I discussed ... many matters with my representatives here. I figured out that it’s better for me and my interests for my defense team to continue representing me,” Nashiri said, speaking through an interpreter.

He is awaiting trial in September on suspicion of orchestrating the 2000 attack in which Al-Qaeda bombers steered a boat full of explosives into the US warship while it refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. The attack killed 17 US sailors and wounded 37.

The hearing was held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay and transmitted via closed-circuit television to Fort Meade, an Army base outside Washington.

Nashiri could be executed if convicted on charges that include murder, conspiring with Al-Qaeda and attacking civilians. Kammen was appointed as his “learned counsel,” or attorney with experience handling death penalty cases.