Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of 9/11, surfaced at a March 10 hearing on the Guantanamo naval base. Mohammed was appearing before a U.S. Navy captain (identified as “president” in the transcript below and on the following 22 pages) to determine whether he is an “enemy combatant.”
The transcript includes a written statement from Mohammed (Pages 15-17) stating, “I was the Operational Director for Sheikh Usama Bin Laden for the organizing, planning, follow-up and execution of the 9/11 operation.” Mohammed claims responsibility for managing “the cell for the production of biological weapons such as anthrax” and says he was commander of the “martyr’s house” where 9/11 hijackers were housed. Mohammed was responsible, he says, “for their training and readiness” for the 9/11 operation. He further identifies himself as “participant, principal planner, trainer, financier … executor and/or principal participant” in 31 listed atrocities, including “the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II while he was visiting the Philippines.”
Mohammed submitted a separate statement alleging torture after his 2003 capture by “agents of the U.S. government” (Page 12). The tribunal president said this “will be reported” for appropriate investigation.
The transcript reprinted here does not include Mohammed’s statement that he “decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl,” because that portion of his testimony was withheld from the initial Pentagon release until the family of the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter could be notified.
To read Daniel Byman’s analysis in Slate of Mohammed’s Gitmo appearance, click here.
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