Five Sept. 11 Suspects to Face Trial in New York

Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday.

Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning.

President Obama, speaking in Tokyo, said he will insist that Mohammed be subject to “the most exacting demands of justice” and called the move both a prosecutorial and a national security decision.

“I’m absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheik Mohammad will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people insist on it. My administration will insist on it,” he said.

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U.S. Needs Patriot Act to Avert Attack, Kerik Says

Highly decorated former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik tells Newsmax that failure to renew the Patriot Act would place Americans in “serious jeopardy” and could lead to a “catastrophic attack” in the U.S.

Kerik, who was President George W. Bush’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security before he withdrew his name from consideration, also said the detainees at Guantanamo Bay who could be released into the U.S. remain determined to “create the demise” of America. Read more

Some Guantanamo Prisoners Could Be Released In U.S.

Some of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners could be released into the United States while others could be put on trial in the American court system, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday.

Holder, who was chosen by President Barack Obama to lead the administration’s efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within a year, said the review of what to do with each of the prisoners had begun. Read more

9/11 Suspects Ask To Make ‘Confessions’ at Gitmo

Five men charged with plotting the Sept. 11 attacks told a military judge today that they want to immediately confess at their war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, setting up likely guilty pleas and their possible executions.

The five said they decided to abandon all efforts to defend themselves against the capital charges on Nov. 4, the day Barack Obama was elected to the White House. It was as if they wanted to rush toward convictions before Obama — who has vowed to end the war-crimes trials and close Guantanamo — takes office.

Abruptly reversing course on previous attempts to defend themselves in the death-penalty case, the five announced they wanted to drop all motions presented on their behalf. The judge said competency hearings were pending for two of the detainees, precluding them from immediately filing pleas.

In a letter the judge read aloud in court, the five defendants said they “request an immediate hearing session to announce our confessions.”

The letter implies they want to plead guilty, but does not specify whether they will admit to any specific charges.

The judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, asked Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants if they were prepared to enter a plea. So far, Mohammed and three others said they agreed with the letter; the fifth remained to be questioned by the judge.

Mohammed, who has already told interrogators he was the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, also told the judge today that he had no faith in him, his Pentagon-appointed lawyers or President George W. Bush.

Sporting a chest-length gray beard, Mohammed said in English: “I don’t trust you.”

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