Khalid Sheikh Muhammad Admits Role In 39 Terrorist Plots
Pentagon officials
reported Wednesday that suspected al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh
Muhammad admitted to masterminding the September 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 also 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 rambling 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 (shown before
his capture at right) 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 9/11 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.