GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – An alleged Al Qaeda militant facing a military trial chose yesterday to boycott the proceedings, dismissing the legal process and saying his fate was in the hands of God.

Jabran Said bin al-Qahtani did not return to the courtroom after an hour-long recess. His lawyer, Army Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Broyles, said only force would get him back before the military judge.

In a brief earlier session, Mr. al-Qahtani, a Saudi detainee who was making his first appearance before the military tribunal at this American military base, told the court he had no interest in participating in the proceedings.

“You judge me, and you sentence me the way you want, if this is God’s will,” he told the judge.

Mr. al-Qahtani, who was arrested with senior Al Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubayda and other alleged terrorists on March 28, 2002, at an alleged Al Qaeda safe house in Faisalabad, Pakistan, is charged with conspiring to attack American military and civilian targets. The Department of Defense says that, among other things, he helped to prepare explosives for use against American troops in Afghanistan.

Colonel Broyles had said he planned to argue that conspiracy to attack American troops is not a war crime and that he hoped to have the military judge, Navy Captain Daniel O’Toole, removed from the case for an unspecified conflict of interest. He also told reporters that he believed some evidence against his client was obtained through torture, but declined to provide details.

It was clear as soon as Mr. al-Qahtani sat down that things would not go smoothly in the windowless courtroom with thick burgundy carpeting, leather padded chairs and a varnished railing separating trial participants from spectators.

When Captain O’Toole began to explain the legal process, Mr. al-Qahtani responded, “This is nonsense.”

The judge then explained the benefits of having a lawyer, but Mr. al-Qahtani was not interested.

“I would prefer to be ignorant of these matters,” he said, resting his head on his hands. “I don’t care.”

At another point, the detainee, who has bushy black hair and a thick beard, told the judge that a lawyer couldn’t help him, saying America can “either kill me or imprison me or God will provide me with rescue, and then you will regret everything.”

Colonel Broyles asked the court to delay the proceedings so he could research what his ethical obligations were to a client who did not want his assistance. When the hearing resumed, Mr. al-Qahtani was absent. The defense attorney then asked to rescheduled the hearing, which Captain O’Toole denied.

Mr. al-Qahtani, who according to his lawyer is in his mid-20s and has a wife and two children, is one of 10 detainees at Guantanamo Bay who have been charged and are facing a military tribunal. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. There are about 490 prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

The chief military prosecutor, Air Force Colonel Morris Davis, said Monday America plans to charge about two dozen more detainees and will seek the death penalty in some cases.

Mr. al-Qahtani is one of three detainees with a scheduled hearing this week. The other two, Sufyian Barhoumi and Ghassan al-Sharbi, were arrested during the same March 28, 2002, raid in Pakistan.

The hearings are intended to deal with legal issues in preparation for the military trials, which are tentatively scheduled to start in late summer or early fall. The U.S.Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on the legal validity of the tribunals.