9/11 'mastermind' to stand trial in New York

Fri Nov 13 2009 18:01:34

The alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks will stand trial a few blocks away from Ground Zero in New York.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be transferred from Guantanamo Bay with four other detainees, all of whom will be tried in a civilian federal court in New York, US Attorney General Eric Holder said.

He said he expected prosecutors to seek the death penalty in all five of the cases.

A further five alleged terrorists currently held at the base in Cuba, including a suspect in the 2000 bombing of the US Navy destroyer USS Cole in Yemen, will face a military trial.

Trying Mohammed and others in the US is a key part of White House plans to close the controversial detention centre. But opponents say treating the men as normal criminal suspects will give them the opportunity to broadcast their extremist views in open court.

President Barack Obama said: "I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subjected to the most exacting demands of justice."

Mohammed has allegedly told interrogators he was the architect of the 2001 plot that killed close to 3,000 innocent victims.

It is alleged he suggested the idea to Osama bin Laden as early as 1996 and went on to fund the attacks, train hijackers and oversee the operation. He will be tried alongside Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali.

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