9/11 mastermind confesses
2007-03-15 07:18
Lolita C Baldor
Washington - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, which was held last Saturday.
The transcripts released on Wednesday by the Pentagon also refer to a claim by Mohammed that he was tortured by the CIA, although he said he was not under duress when he confessed to his role in the attacks.
Using his own words, the extraordinary transcript connects Mohammed to dozens of the worst terror plots attempted or carried out in the last 15 years - and to others that have not occurred. All told, thousands have died in operations he directed.
Links to other attacks
His words draw al-Qaeda closer to plots of the early 1990s than the group has previously been connected to, including the 1993 World Trade Centre truck bombing. Six people with links to global terror networks were convicted in federal court and sentenced to life in prison.
It also makes clear that al-Qaeda wanted to down a second trans-Atlantic aircraft during would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid's operation.
Mohammed said he was involved in planning the 2002 bombing of a Kenya beach resort frequented by Israelis and the failed missile attack on an Israeli passenger jet after it took off from Mombasa, Kenya. He also said he was responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia. In 2002, 202 were killed when two Bali nightclubs were bombed.
Other plots he said he was responsible for included planned attacks against the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Empire State Building and New York Stock Exchange, the Panama Canal, and Big Ben and Heathrow Airport in London - none of which occurred.
He also said he was involved in planning assassination attempts against former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, attacks on US nuclear power plants and suspension bridges in New York, the destruction of American and Israeli embassies in Asia and Australia, attacks on American naval vessels and oil tankers around the world, and an attempt to destroy an oil company he said was owned by former secretary of state Henry Kissinger on Sumatra, Indonesia.
Torture claims
In all, Mohammed, who is believed to have been the number three al-Qaeda leader, said he was responsible for planning 28 individual attacks. The comments were included in a 26-page transcript released by the Pentagon, which blacked out some of his remarks.
Mohammed also claimed he was tortured by the CIA after his capture in 2003 in Pakistan, according to an exchange he had with the military colonel who heads the three-member panel that heard his case.
"Is any statement that you made, was it because of this treatment, to use your word, you claim torture," the colonel asked. "Do you make any statements because of that?"
Portions of Mohammed's response were deleted from the transcript, and his immediate answer was unclear. He later said his confession read at the hearing to the long list of attacks was given without any pressure, threats or duress.
The colonel said that Mohammed's torture allegations would be "reported for any investigation that may be appropriate" and also would be taken into account in consideration of his enemy combatant status.
Regret
In one rambling remark apparently spoken through a translator, Mohammed appeared to express some regret for some of the casualties of 9/11.
"When I said I'm not happy that 3 000 been killed in America, I feel sorry even. I don't like to kill children and the kids," the transcript said.
- AP