9/11 accused want to plead guilty

Published on Monday 8 December 2008 15:12

THE self-styled mastermind behind the September 11 terror attacks, and four of his co-defendants, told a military judge at Guantanamo Bay today that they wanted to plead guilty.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four others sent a note to the judge at today's pre-trial hearing at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base saying they wanted to confess.

The judge, Army Colonel Stephen Henley, who was assigned to the case after the previous judge resigned for undisclosed reasons in November, said he would question the five men to ensure that was their wish.

The judge read aloud a letter in which the five co-defendants said they "request an immediate hearing session to announce our confessions".

Sporting a chest-length grey beard, Mohammed told the judge he did not trust him, his Pentagon-appointed lawyers or US President George Bush.

Speaking in English, Mohammed said: "I don't trust you."

Nine relatives of victims of the 2001 terror attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, came face-to-face with Mohammed during the pre trial hearing today.

Before the hearing, Maureen Santora, whose firefighter son Christopher was killed at the World Trade Centre in New York, said she wanted to lock eyes with those accused of killing her son and 2,972 others in the bloodiest terrorist attacks ever on US soil.

Relatives of about 30 more victims, mainly firefighters, have given Mrs Santora memorial cards that she plans to bring into court "to know their spirit is with us".

Five of the relatives were chosen by military lottery and they brought four other relatives with them.

None of the relatives were visible in video images relayed to a press room nearby.

President-elect Barack Obama opposes the military commissions – as the Guantanamo trials are called – and has pledged to close the detention centre holding some 250 men soon after taking office next month.

The charges alleged a "long-term, highly sophisticated, organised plan by al Qaida to attack the United States", a spokesman for the US Department of Defence said in February, when the charges were announced.

The letter implied they wanted to plead guilty, but did not specify whether they would admit to any specific charges. It also said they wished to drop all previous defence motions.

Under questioning by the judge, Mohammed said he agreed with the letter. The other four were still being questioned.

Later, the men said they decided to abandon all efforts to defend themselves against the capital charges on November 4, the day Barack Obama was elected to the White House.

The judge said competency hearings were pending for two of the detainees, precluding them from immediately filing pleas.

They will face possible execution if they plead guilty.