Unholywars

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, chief suspect and an alleged Al-Qaeda operative claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks on 14 March 2007 at a closed door hearing at the US base in Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba. The confession included the attacks on the World Trade Centre, those on the Pentagon and a multitude of other terrorist attacks and plots. A statement read by a US military officer representing him at the hearing said ‘I was responsible for the 9-11 operation, from A to Z’.

The facts

A statement read by a US military officer representing him at the hearing said ‘I was responsible for the 9-11 operation, from A to Z’. He also claimed responsibility for a host of other terrorist attacks and plots from a 1993 attack on the World Trade centre to the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, according to the transcript released. His statement listed 29 operations that he claimed responsibility for, including failed assassination attempts of former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and Pope John Paul II during a trip to the Philippines. He said he was responsible for planning, financing and following up with operations to destroy US military vessels and oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar and the port of Singapore. He had also planned to bomb and destroy the Panama Canal, his statement said.

The transcript further read that he had plotted a second wave of attacks following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade centre and the Pentagon with hijacked airliners targeting the Library Tower in California, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank in Washington State and the Empire State Building in New York.

Daniel Pearl Beheaded by me

He also claimed to have beheaded the US journalist Daniel Pearl, whose shocking video had been aired on the Internet worldwide in 2002. This piece of information was officially released a day later than the rest of the transcript to allow time for his family to be notified. His exact words, as appearing in an Associated Press news article were,

I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head.

Motives and acts

In a long monologue that fills about four single-spaced pages of the transcript, Mr. Mohammed said his motives were military ones. `If America they want to invade Iraq they will not send for Saddam roses or kisses, they send for a bombardment,` he said. `I consider myself, for what you are doing, a religious thing as you consider us fundamentalist. So, we derive from religious leading that we consider we and George Washington doing the same thing.` In a statement to a military tribunal, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed took responsibility for 31 terror attacks or attempts, including the following:
1. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
2. The Sept. 11 attacks, `from A to Z.`
3. A shoe-bomber operation to down two American planes.
4. A 2002 shooting in Kuwait that killed an American marine.
5. The Bali nightclub bombing that killed more than 180 in 2002.
6. Planning attacks against prominent American skyscrapers like the Empire State Building.
7. Planning to destroy American military vessels and oil tankers. 8. Planning to bomb the Panama Canal.
9. Planning to assassinate former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
10. Planning to bomb several New York landmarks, including the stock exchange and suspension bridges.
11. Planning to destroy several London landmarks, including Heathrow Airport and Big Ben.
12. Planning to destroy buildings in the Israeli city of Eilat, using planes leaving Saudi Arabia.
13. Planning to destroy Israeli and American embassies around the world.
14. Sending fighters into Israel to spy on strategic targets.
15. Bombing a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, frequented by Israelis.
16. Launching a Russian-made surface-to-air missile at an El Al airliner leaving Mombasa. 17. Spying on nuclear power plants in the United States.
18. Planning to hit NATO headquarters in Brussels.
19. Planning to bomb 12 American aircraft full of passengers.
20. Shared responsibility for an assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in the Philippines.
21. Planning the assassination of President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.
22. Trying to destroy an American oil company in Sumatra `owned by the Jewish former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.`

The Implications

The statements made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, initially thought to be of great significance and a positive step forward for the US in their efforts to solve the 9-11 mystery, duly punishing those responsible, was gradually realised to contain certain inherent issues. In a news article published in New York Times on 16 March 2007, it was debated whether the confession might actually lead to complicate the prosecution of his former colleagues. It is feared that Mr. Mohammed was so expansive in his acceptance of responsibility that other defendants might be able to use his statements in their own defense. The transcript also disavowed information he had told Central Intelligence Agency interrogators about his accomplices, again potentially helping the other defendants.

With regards to his claim that he is the one who killed journalist Daniel Pearl, the statement would significantly alter the case of Ahmed Omar Sheikh who is appealing his death sentence in Pakistan for his role in Mr. Pearl’s abduction and murder. Finally, the extent of the confessions and their actual content is sketchy because of the secretive nature of the proceedings. John Sifton, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch said he questioned whether the statement read for Mr. Mohammed by his representative authentically reflected his views.
Via: NYT