White House Wants Military Trials for 9/11 Suspects

AFP
March 5, 2010

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

In a U-turn, White House aides are poised to recommend holding military tribunals for the alleged co-plotters of the September 11 attacks, the Washington Post said Friday.

Self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four accused co-plotters are detained in Guantanamo Bay awaiting trial for the 2001 attacks that killed almost 3,000 people, most in New York.

The move would reverse the plan by the administration of US President Barack Obama to try Sheikh Mohammed and his co-plotters in a civilian court in New York, just steps from where the World Trade Center once stood.

Asked about the report by AFP, a senior White House official responded only that no decision had been taken.

Obama has been under pressure in Congress, with many lawmakers in both parties wanting Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators to remain under military jurisdiction.

The plan for the New York trial also lost the crucial support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has worried about the high costs and disruption of holding the trial in lower Manhattan.

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This article was posted: Friday, March 5, 2010 at 12:36 pm

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