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Pentagon censors 9/11 web tape
13/09/2007 18:45 - (SA)
Washington - The Pentagon on Thursday posted a censored audio version of testimony from September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on its website deleting parts about the beheading of US reporter Daniel Pearl, officials said.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the passage was deleted from the audio version of Mohammed's hearing before a military panel at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba because of its potential propaganda value.
The government decided after a lengthy review that "it could be used by our enemies in a way that could recruit terrorists for further activities", said Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman. Censored transcript
"There clearly is a difference between the potential impact of the written and spoken word when it comes from somebody like KSM," said Whitman, using Mohammed's initials.
The Pentagon had previously released a censored transcript of the March 8 hearing that contained the passage in which Mohammed said he beheaded Wall Street Journal correspondent Pearl because of his supposed ties to the CIA and Mossad, the Israeli intelligence services.
The portion removed from the audio version of the hearing immediately emerged as an issue in internal discussions that included the US intelligence agencies, Whitman said.
Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi in early 2002 while researching a story about Islamic militants for the Wall Street Journal. A videotape showing his beheading was later distributed on the internet.
- AFP
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