Mocking 9/11 accused claim to be 'terrorists to the bone'

Published on Tuesday 10 March 2009 20:48

FIVE men charged over the 9/11 attacks in the United States have mocked the American authorities and proclaimed themselves "terrorists to the bone" in war crimes court papers released yesterday.

The Guantanamo prisoners use the six-page document to try to justify the killing of nearly 3,000 people, portraying the attack as a response to US actions in Israel, Iraq and elsewhere that is supported by their Muslim faith. "We fight you over defending Muslims, their land, their holy sites, and their religion as a whole," they write in the document, which was submitted to the Guantanamo court and released by the Pentagon

The five had previously said they wanted to plead guilty to the charges against them, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind, had expressed pride in the 2001 attacks. But this is their most detailed response yet.

They were charged with murder and other crimes at the Guantanamo court, which was suspended by President Barack Obama in January.

The charges, which carry a potential death sentence, "are badges of honour, which we carry with pride", they write. The charge of conspiracy is "laughable", because the planning was intended to be secret.

"Your intelligence apparatus, with all its abilities… failed to discover our military attack plans before the blessed 11 September operation… Why then should you blame us, holding us accountable and putting us on trial?"

Mr Obama has ordered the closure of Guantanamo, so, if and when the trials resume, they will be held somewhere else and probably under a different legal system.