A New York judge says self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed can be made available to answer written questions from lawyers for Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law.

Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan issued an order Wednesday after the government and lawyers for defendant Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (SOO’-lay-mahn AH’-boo GAYTH) agreed Mohammed can answer written questions.

Abu Ghaith is charged with conspiring to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaida’s spokesman after 9/11. His attorney Stanley Cohen has said the interview will be used to determine whether Mohammed would be an appropriate witness for his client’s trial. The trial is to start next week.

Cohen resorted to written questions after saying the government was too restrictive in its demands for an in-person interview. Mohammed is held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

(AP)