Self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. – File PhotoWASHINGTON: The alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and his four accused co-plotters will be formally arraigned by a military tribunal on May 5 at Guantanamo Bay, US officials said Tuesday.
Military judge James Pohl has fixed the date for the hearing on Saturday, May 5, and it will start at 9:00 am local time, the Pentagon said in a statement. Lawyers for the five could still ask for the hearing to be delayed.
US officials last week cleared the way for a long-awaited trial of self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators unveiling charges that carry a possible death sentence.
The five are accused of planning and executing the attacks against New York and Washington as well as the downing of a hijacked airplane in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attacks led to the deaths of 2,976 people.
Mohammed and his accused conspirators have been held for years at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while a legal and political battle has played out over how and where to prosecute them.
The 46-year-old Mohammed, along with Walid bin Attash of Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Ramzi Binalshibh, Pakistan’s Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali — also known as Ammar al-Balochi — and Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia will appear in court for arraignment proceedings.
Their joint trial, which could be months away, will also be held at the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, where the US government has set up special military commissions to try terror suspects.
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