Jon
03-15-07, 02:19 PM
The man accused of being the mastermind behind the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks has admitted his role in the atrocity and involvement in planning 28 further terror plots.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed made the admission during a US military hearing at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, according to a transcript of the proceedings released by the Pentagon.
In a statement to the tribunal read by a representative, Mohammed confessed that he had been the commander of a 'martyr's house' in Afghanistan which had housed the September 11th hijackers, admitting that there he was "responsible for their training and readiness for the execution of the 9/11 operation".
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," said the statement read during the military session, which was held last Saturday.
In a candid confession, Mohammed, who was believed to be al-Qaida's third in command at the time of his capture in Pakistan in 2003, also admitted responsibility for planning a string of other terror attacks, including unrealised plots to "destroy" Heathrow Airport, Canary Wharf and Big Ben.
According to transcripts of the testimony, which was translated from Arabic and edited by the US defence department, Mohammed also claimed responsibility for the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Centre and one of the nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia.
He also admitted responsibility for the 'shoe bomber operation' to bring down two American planes, in apparent reference to the failed attempt by British-born Richard Reid to execute the plan and to involvement in planned attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower, the Empire State Building and the New York Stock Exchange, none of which were ever realised.
Mohammed also claimed responsibility for assassination plots against former US president Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II.
The al-Qaida suspect is one of 14 alleged terrorist leaders currently being held by the US military in Guantanamo Bay having been transferred to the camp from secret CIA prisons abroad, last year.
Secret hearings are being held at the prison camp to determine whether the suspects should be defined as "enemy combatants", a label which would mean that they could be held indefinitely and face criminal charges before a military tribunal.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed made the admission during a US military hearing at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, according to a transcript of the proceedings released by the Pentagon.
In a statement to the tribunal read by a representative, Mohammed confessed that he had been the commander of a 'martyr's house' in Afghanistan which had housed the September 11th hijackers, admitting that there he was "responsible for their training and readiness for the execution of the 9/11 operation".
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," said the statement read during the military session, which was held last Saturday.
In a candid confession, Mohammed, who was believed to be al-Qaida's third in command at the time of his capture in Pakistan in 2003, also admitted responsibility for planning a string of other terror attacks, including unrealised plots to "destroy" Heathrow Airport, Canary Wharf and Big Ben.
According to transcripts of the testimony, which was translated from Arabic and edited by the US defence department, Mohammed also claimed responsibility for the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Centre and one of the nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia.
He also admitted responsibility for the 'shoe bomber operation' to bring down two American planes, in apparent reference to the failed attempt by British-born Richard Reid to execute the plan and to involvement in planned attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower, the Empire State Building and the New York Stock Exchange, none of which were ever realised.
Mohammed also claimed responsibility for assassination plots against former US president Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II.
The al-Qaida suspect is one of 14 alleged terrorist leaders currently being held by the US military in Guantanamo Bay having been transferred to the camp from secret CIA prisons abroad, last year.
Secret hearings are being held at the prison camp to determine whether the suspects should be defined as "enemy combatants", a label which would mean that they could be held indefinitely and face criminal charges before a military tribunal.