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Key 9/11 suspect confesses guilt Key 9/11 suspect confesses guilt
(about 2 hours later)
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 11 September attacks, has admitted responsibility, a court transcript says. The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks has confessed to his role in that, and 29 other terror attacks around the world, the Pentagon says.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z," he said. "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z," said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a transcript of a US hearing at Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
He also reportedly confessed to planning 29 acts of terrorism, including plans to attack Big Ben and Heathrow airport in London. He also said he had planned attacks on Big Ben and Heathrow airport in London.
The hearing at the US Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba was the first time he had faced a court. The hearing held at the weekend ruled he was an "enemy combatant" who should remain in detention indefinitely.
Sheikh Mohammed was believed to be the third most senior al-Qaeda leader before his capture in March 2003 in Pakistan. It now opens the way for Mohammed to face criminal charges and eventually a trial before a special military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
'HIGH-VALUE' SUSPECTS Khalid Sheikh MohammedRamzi BinalshibhAbu Zubaydah HambaliMajid Khan The 14 key detainees KEY TARGETS Library Tower, Los AngelesSears Tower, ChicagoPlaza Bank, Washington StateEmpire State Building, NYHeathrow Airport, LondonBig Ben, London The 14 key detainees
He was held in US custody at an undisclosed location from then until his transfer to Guantanamo Bay. According to the transcripts, Sheikh Mohammed admitted responsibility for a series of attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York and the attempt by the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, to down an American plane.
Hearings opened at the detention camp last week to decide whether key suspects can be deemed enemy combatants and therefore face military trials. He also claimed to be behind plots to assassinate the late Pope John Paul II and former US President Bill Clinton.
In total, 14 terror suspects are due at the hearings. Many of the operations, including plans to attack Heathrow Airport and Big Ben in London, never happened.
The court is not open to the public. Transcripts of testimony have been translated from Sheikh Mohammed's Arabic and edited by the Pentagon to remove sensitive intelligence material. Transcripts of his testimony were translated from Arabic and edited by the US Defense Department to remove sensitive intelligence material before release.
According to the transcript, Sheikh Mohammed admitted responsibility for a series of other attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York and the attempts by the so-called Shoe Bomber, Richard Reid. 'Sham tribunals'
Mohammed is the most high-profile of 14 "high value" detainees recently transferred from secret CIA prisons abroad to the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba.
The closed-door hearings were held over the weekend. It is the first time Mohammed has faced a court since his capture in March 2003 in Pakistan.
The US hearings have been widely criticised by lawyers and human rights groups as sham tribunals, with no chance for the defendants to get a fair trial.
Mohammed, a Pakistan national, was said to be the third most senior al-Qaeda leader before his capture.
The BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera says there is nothing new in Mohammed's admission and that there is a transcript of his interrogation over 9/11 available on the web.
Its significance lies in the fact that he made the statements at the hearing, which could now lead to a trial before a military tribunal, our correspondent says.