9/11, Bali suspects in army hearings

March 08, 2007

WASHINGTON: The alleged masterminds behind the September 11 and Bali bomb attacks will be among 14 "high-value detainees" to face hearings at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay tomorrow.

The hearings are believed to be the first for the men, including suspected 9/11 planner Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the Indonesian known as Hambali - who is accused of planning the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians - since they were seized by the US military.

No reporters or other outside observers such as defence lawyers would be allowed to attend the hearings to determine whether the men were enemy combatants, US officials said.

"We will commence with the combatant status review tribunals for the 14 high-value detainees that came into DoD (Department of Defence) custody in September, commencing this Friday," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

The official account of the arrest of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is that it was made in Rawalpindi by Pakistani security forces on Saturday, 1 March 2003.
Links:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-03-02-topstrip_x.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,911860,00.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/03/pakistan.arrests

However, due to a whole grabbag of discrepancies in the official account, many conspiracy theorists have speculated that, while KSM may well be in custody, the story of his actual arrest is entirely fictional and he was probably arrested elsewhere, earlier.
Link:
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/essay.jsp?article=essayksmcapture

Thankfully, 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton have now cleared the matter up. In their new book "Without Precedent" they put an end to speculation:

"Khalid Skeikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 plot, was captured in an early 2003 raid on a Karachi apartment orchestrated by the CIA, the FBI and Pakistani security services." (p. 115)

Well, that's that, the "Rawalpindi arrest" story should surely be dead now.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Could Receive Gitmo Hearing In 3 Months

Source: CBSNews

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, Sept. 20, 2006

(CBS/AP) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, is expected to face a hearing here within three months to determine whether he is an enemy combatant, a military official said Wednesday.

Mohammed and 13 other "high-value" detainees recently transferred from CIA custody to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will face Combatant Status Review Tribunals, said Navy Capt. Phil Waddingham, director of the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants.

The 14 new detainees will be invited to appear at the hearings, held in a small room inside a prefab building here, which will determine whether they are combatants, Waddingham told reporters. If Mohammed appears, it would mark the first time he has been seen since he was captured more than three years ago.

Detainees can refuse to appear but the tribunals will be held regardless, Waddingham said.

Army Brig. Gen. Edward A. Leacock, the deputy commander of Guantanamo, said the 14 new detainees are being treated humanely.