9/11 suspects 'to plead guilty' in Guantanamo trial
Alleged 9/11 mastermind and co-defendants to plead guilty
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Monday, 08, Dec 2008 07:41
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind September 11th, and his co-defendants are to plead guilty at their Guantanamo Bay trial.
Mr Mohammed and his four co-defendants could face the death penalty after requesting "an immediate hearing session to announce our confessions".
"The accused in this case had decided that they wished to withdraw all motions... and wished to enter pleas in what was termed as confessions in this case," judge Army Colonel Stephen Henley said at the pre-trial proceedings began at Guantanamo Bay.
As relatives of those killed in the terror attacks looked on, Col Stephen Henley also read aloud a letter from the men which implied they wish to plead guilty, though it did not specify to which charges.
The accused said their decision was made "without being under any kind of pressure, threat, intimidations or promise from any party".
When asked by the judge if he was prepared to enter a plea of guilty to all the charges if permitted, Mr Mohammed replied "yes".
"We don't want to waste time," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
The five face a number of charges including hijacking, conspiracy, terrorism and murder in violation of the law of war.
Mr Mohammed, who was captured in 2003, is known to have been subjected to the controversial practice of "waterboarding" or simulated drowning, by the CIA.
The Pentagon says he admitted being responsible "from A to Z" for the 9/11 attacks, though his alleged confession is shrouded in mystery over whether he was tortured into admission.
Appearing in court in white and with a long grey beard and dressed in white, Mr Mohamed said he wished to dispense with his US-appointed lawyer.
He said the officer had served six months in Iraq and that Mr Mohamed could not accept someone responsible for "killing our brothers and sisters in Iraq".
"I'm not differentiating between the judge, [US President George W] Bush and the CIA, who tortured me. I am not trusting any Americans," he later added in English.