Washington, June 01: US prosecutors have filed new charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and four alleged co-conspirators detained at Guantanamo Bay, Xinhua reported.
The charges allege that the five accused were responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks on New York, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pa. that occurred Sep 11, 2001, the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday.
There are eight charges common to all five of the accused: conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking aircraft and terrorism.
All five defendants had been charged in military tribunals during President George W. Bush’s administration, but the Obama administration dropped these charges and tried to move the trials into the federal civilian court.
Obama abandoned that effort last month, citing opposition from congressional Republicans. The Republican-controlled House had voted several times to bar or restrict the administration from using any federal funds to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to US civilian courts for trial.
–IANS–