Washington: Self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed faces a potential death sentence after being charged with the murder of thousands of US citizens.
In what has been trailed as ‘the trial of the century’, Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators will soon stand accused of committing multiple counts of terrorism, hijacking and murder in violation of the law of war by devising the era-defining attacks on the US soil.
They will be tried by military tribunal at the Guantánamo Bay naval base in Cuba, The Telegraph reports.
According to a Defence Department statement, the charges allege that the five accused were responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the killing of 2,976 people.
Mohammed, a 46-year-old Kuwaiti long known by US officials as ‘KSM’, has been held at the base''s Camp Delta prison for the past six years.
He is alleged to have confessed that he was he ‘was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z’ after extensive interrogation.
Mohammed will appear in court at the base for arraignment within 30 days, alongside Saudi Arabians Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh of Yemen and Pakistani Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, April 05, 2012, 12:28