USA TODAY
November 13, 2009
By Kevin Johnson and Mimi Hall
WASHINGTON — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other alleged accomplices will be moved from the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay to New York City so they can stand trial just blocks away from the scene of the deadliest terrorist assaults in American history.
Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday that he plans to seek the death penalty against all five men. He said it is important that the alleged 9/11 planners be brought to justice near the scene of the crime and in U.S. civilian courts that would be “open to the public and open to the world.”
At the same time, Holder announced that five other Guantanamo detainees, including the prime suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, would be tried in military courts.
The attorney general’s decision marked a crucial step toward closing the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba, one of President Obama’s top campaign promises.
Holder acknowledged his decision to bring such high-profile terror suspects to the U.S.— reversing Bush administration policy—would raise strong opposition. He suggested that defense attorneys would no doubt raise objections because Mohammed was subjected to repeated water torture and acknowledged there would be questions about the government’s ability to secure such a high profile civilian trial. more …
