WASHINGTON, March 14, 2007 – Suspected al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Muhammad has admitted masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as well as the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
“I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z,” an interpreter read from Muhammad’s statement to the Combatant Status Review Tribunal on March 10 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The tribunal was an administrative trial to determine only whether Muhammad could be designated as an enemy combatant. Muhammad used the opportunity to submit, through an interpreter, a two-part personal statement with 38 terrorism-related admissions.
He led the list by pledging his jihad allegiance to Osama bin Laden and finished with an admission to trying to destroy the American oil company in Indonesia owned by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Muhammad claimed responsibility for the 2001 attempted shoe bombing of American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris.
He offered a chilling confession to “managing and following up on the Cell for the Production of Biological Weapons, such as anthrax and others, and following up on Dirty Bomb Operations on American soil.”
He also named four other skyscrapers that were supposed to be destroyed in a “second wave” of attacks after 9/11. They were the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank in Seattle and the Empire State Building in New York City.
“I shared responsibility for the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II while he was visiting the Philippines,” Muhammad also admitted.
Muhammad’s lengthy closing oral statement began with a pledge to Allah in Arabic followed by a refusal to take an oath as part of the tribunal. He explained that he was not lying, but that his religious beliefs prevented him taking the oath and thereby accepting, at least in part, American law and its constitution.
Muhammad went on to say that he was not trying to make himself out to be a hero, but an enemy of America.
He drew a comparison between bin Laden and George Washington, both fighting for independence, and said that the term terrorist is “deceiving.” He said that during the Revolutionary War, Washington would have been considered a terrorist by the British.
Muhammad said he did not like to kill people, especially children.
“I don’t like to kill people. I feel very sorry they been killed kids in 9/11,” Muhammad said in broken English. But, he said, their deaths are part of the “language” of war.
He closed by stating that war is part of life and that it will never stop.
Muhammad’s tribunal was one of three for the 14 high-value detainees who were transferred Sept. 6 to Guantanamo Bay from CIA custody.
Proceedings were March 9 for Abu Faraj al-Libi, an alleged senior member of al Qaeda, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is said to have helped Muhammad plan the Sept. 11 attacks.
Shibh also elected to not participate in the tribunal. His personal representative said that Shibh was “uncooperative and unresponsive.”
Evidence submitted by the U.S. government against Shibh included a diary recovered in a 2004 raid detailing his involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. He was also identified on a videotape of potential suicide operatives, the evidence cited. Shibh attempted to obtain a U.S. visa four times in 2000 for the purpose of attending flight school here, the evidence states. All applications were rejected.
Many other connections to pre-9/11 terrorist activities were cited in the evidence, including wiring money to the actual terrorist hijackers.
Libi elected to not participate in the tribunal, citing through his personal representative that his freedom “far too important to be decided by an administrative process” and that he is awaiting legal proceedings.
Evidence submitted against Libi included sources who stated that Libi was the supervisor of an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Computer and other documentation were seized during his capture that contained manuals for explosives, detonators, chemicals, military tactics, missiles and tanks.
CSRTs are a one-time administrative process used to determine whether detainees at Guantanamo Bay can be designated as enemy combatants. No decisions have been made about the detainees’ status.
Not all of the three detainees chose to participate in the CSRT proceedings. It was not released which detainees did or did not participate. The detainees have a right to personal representation and to receive an unclassified summary of evidence in advance of the hearing.
The CSRTs for the detainees were not open to media because of national security concerns.
The U.S. government established the CSRT process at Guantanamo Bay as a result of a June 2004 Supreme Court decision in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for bin Laden who challenged his detention at Guantanamo Bay. Between July 2004 and March 2005, DoD held 558 CSRTs at Guantanamo Bay. At the time, 38 detainees were determined to no longer meet the definition of enemy combatant, and 520 detainees were found to be enemy combatants.
UNCLASSIFIED Department of Defense Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba 08 February 2007 TO: Personal Representative FROM: OIC, CSRT (08 Feb 07) SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE FOR COMBATANT STATUS REVIEW TRIBUNAL - MUHAMMAD, KHALID SHAYKH
1. Under the provisions of the Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum, dated 14 July 2006, Implementation of Combatant Status Review Tribunal Procedures for Enemy Combatants Detained at US. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a Tribunal has been appointed to determine if the detainee is an enemy combatant.
2. An enemy combatant has been defined as "an individual who was part of or supporting the Taliban or a1 Qaida forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners. This includes any person who committed a belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces."
3. The following facts support the determination that the detainee is an enemy combatant.
a. On the morning of 1 1 September 200 1, four airliners traveling over the United States were hijacked. The flights hijacked were: American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93. At approximately 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of the tower at approximately 10:25 a.m. At approximately 9:05 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into he South Tower of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of the tower at approximately 955 a.m. At approximately 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the southwest side of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. At approximately 10:03 aim., United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Stoney Creek Township, Pennsylvania. These crashes and subsequent damage to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon resulted in the deaths of 2,972 persons in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
b. The detainee served as the head of the a1 Qaida military committee and was Usama bin Laden's principal a1 Qaida operative who directed the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States.
c. In an interview with an a1 Jazeera reporter in June 2002, the detainee stated he was the head of the a1 Qaida military committee. R- 1 Page 1 of 3 UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE FOR COMBATANT STATUS REVIEW TRIBUlVAL - MUHAMMAD, KHALID SHAYKH
d. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained information about the four airplanes hijacked on 1 1 September 2001 including code names, airline company, flight number, target, pilot name and background information, and names of the hijackers.
e. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained photographs of 19 individuals identified as the 1 1 September 200 1 hijackers.
f. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained a document that listed the pilot license fees for Mohammad Atta and biographies for some of the 1 1 September 200 1 hijackers.
g. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained images of passports and an image of Mohammad Atta.
h. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained transcripts of chat sessions belonging to at least one of the 11 September 2001 hijackers.
i. The detainee directed an individual to travel to the United States to case targets for a second wave of attacks.
j. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained three letters from Usama bin Laden.
k. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained spreadsheets that describe money assistance to families of known a1 Qaida members.
1. The detainee's name was on a list in a computer seized in connection with a threat to United States airlines, United States embassies and the Pope.
m. The detainee wrote the bojinkaplot, the airline bomb plot which was later found on his nephew Ramzi Yousefs computer.
n. The bojinkaplot is also known as the Manila air investigation.
o. The Manila air investigation uncovered the detainee conspired with others to plant explosive devices aboard American jetliners while those aircraft were scheduled to be airborne and loaded with passengers on their way to the United States.
p. The detainee was in charge of and funded an attack against United States military vessels heading to the port of Djibouti.
q. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained a letter to the United Arab Emirates threatening attack if their government continued to help the United States. Page 2 of 3 UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE FOR COMBATANT STATUS REVIEW TRIBUNAL - MUHAMMAD, KHALID SHAYKH
r. During the capture of the detainee, information used exclusively by a1 Qaida operational managers to communicate with operatives was found.
s. The detainee received funds from Kuwaiti-based Islamic extremist groups and delivered the funds to a1 Qaida members.
t. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained a document that summarized operational procedures and training requirements of an a1 Qaida cell.
u. A computer hard drive seized during the capture of the detainee contained a list of killed and wounded a1 Qaida martyrs.
v. Passport photographs of a1 Qaida operatives were seized during the capture of the detainee.
4. The detainee has the opportunity to contest his designation as an enemy combatant. The Tribunal will endeavor to arrange for the presence of any reasonably available witnesses or evidence that the detainee desires to call or introduce to prove that he is not an enemy combatant and that is deemed relevant to that issue. The Tribunal President will determine the reasonable availability and relevance of evidence or witnesses. Page 3 of 3 UNCLASSIFIED
Barack Obama
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