DENVER (AP) — Saying a federal judge "succumbed to the human tragedy" of the Oklahoma City bombing, Timothy McVeigh's attorneys on Thursday asked an appeals court to postpone his execution again.

The defense said it needs more time to review nearly 4,500 pages of FBI material released in the past month.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was appointed to consider the appeal, court clerk Patrick Fischer said. He declined to identify the three.

He said he expected the panel to issue a written ruling without hearing oral arguments, but he did not know when it would be handed down. There was still no announcement 4« hours after the appeal was filed.

Prosecutor Sean Connelly declined to comment on the filing and said he had no plans to submit a response unless the court asked for it. "I'll do what the court tells me to do," he said.

The defense brief argues that U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch used the wrong standard when ruling Wednesday that the execution should proceed next week, attorney Chris Tritico said.

"All we're asking for is time to do what we need to do," Tritico told reporters outside the courthouse.

If McVeigh is still executed at the conclusion of the process, he added, "then we know the system works."

Larry Pozner, former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, predicted the appeals court would uphold Matsch's ruling.

"It's all uphill after you've been convicted. It's even steeper now that Judge Matsch has added his ruling. At some point, the hill becomes 90 degrees. You just can't climb it any more," he said.

McVeigh, 33, is set to die by injection Monday morning at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

Another defense attorney, Nathan Chambers, met with McVeigh at the prison Thursday morning. Afterward, he said McVeigh was "well" and declined to answer questions.

He would not say if any decision had been made on whether to appeal to the Supreme Court if the appeals court rejected the argument.

The Supreme Court mostly has been unsympathetic to 11th-hour pleas for stays of execution. McVeigh's execution was delayed last month by Attorney General John Ashcroft after the government found some documents hadn't been turned over to the defense, but Ashcroft opposes further delays.

"We've never had a doubt about the guilt of Timothy McVeigh," Ashcroft said Wednesday.

In the 18-page brief filed Thursday, attorney Rob Nigh asked the appeals judges to set aside their emotions while reviewing the arguments and the evidence.

"It is extremely hard not to be improperly influenced by the immense suffering and agony at the heart of this case. Being able to recognize and act upon the elemental demands of fairness in this case requires each of us to summon up the best in us," he wrote.

"We believe ... the district court succumbed to the human tragedy of this case and lost sight of the demands of fairness. We pray that this court not do the same."

He said if attorneys had more time to review the newly released documents, he could show the FBI suppressed credible evidence that other people played a significant role in the bombing and that the jury might have been swayed not to sentence McVeigh to death.

During Wednesday's hearing, Matsch said he was shocked to learn of the newly released material, but he said the jury's verdict should stand.

"Whatever role others may have played, it's clear that Timothy McVeigh committed murder and mayhem as charged," the judge said. "Whatever may in time (be) disclosed about possible involvement of others in this bombing, it will not change the fact that Timothy McVeigh was the instrument of death and destruction."

McVeigh was convicted in 1997 of conspiracy, using a weapon of mass destruction and murdering eight federal law enforcement officers. The April 19, 1995, explosion at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people and was considered the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

In seeking an execution delay, McVeigh accused the government of committing a "fraud upon the court" for failing to turn over all information before trial as Matsch had ordered. The Justice Department presented the new documents to the defense six days before the original May 16 execution date.

Prosecutor Sean Connelly said the information in the documents was contained in FBI interview reports made available before trial. He noted that McVeigh had confessed to the bombing in a recent book.

In Oklahoma City, Martha Ridley, whose daughter Kathy died in the bombing, said: "I just want to get this thing over with and be done with it. It's time for him to go."

Jannie Coverdale, who lost two grandsons in the explosion, had hoped for a delay. She believes McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols, who is serving life in prison, didn't plan it alone.

"I'm wondering now that if Tim is executed, will we ever know?" she asked.

In Pendleton, N.Y., McVeigh's father, Bill, wasn't surprised.

"He's going to get executed sooner or later," he said. "Most people know he did it, so .... I think the longer he lives, the better. It's easiest on me. But, like I said, it's going to happen eventually."