9/11 ‘Mastermind’ Prepares Court Defence
The man who once bragged about planning September 11 “from A to Z” may mount a defence after all to charges that he orchestrated the worst terror attack in US history, with families of the dead watching intently from the US on closed-circuit TV.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, charged with four others with planning and helping to carry out the 2001 terror attack that sent hijacked jetliners into the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, will be arraigned today at the US military base in Cuba.
Mohammed had previously mocked the military tribunal and said he would welcome the death penalty.
His co-defendant, Ramzi Binalshibh, also told the court he was proud of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
But “I don’t think anyone is going to plead guilty”, said Jim Harrington, Binalshibh’s civilian lawyer, who added the defendants are expected to fight the charges against them, which include murder and terrorism and carry a potential death penalty.