9/11 mastermind faces hearing

The self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed (KSM), and three of his alleged accomplices face a new appearance at Guantánamo Naval Base this week before a military commission that will decide your judgment.

Eleven years after being accused of terrorism, hijacking, conspiracy, murders against the law of war and attacks on civilians, as well as intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, a trial has not yet been scheduled.

Before the pandemic, jury selection was scheduled to begin in 2021, but Covid-19, then thwarted plea negotiations and the defendant’s mental incapacity pushed it back again.

1. Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, the “mastermind” of 9/11
He was born in Pakistan on April 14, 1965, and from the age of 12, according to a profile made on him by the Ministry of Defense, he wanted to participate in Jihad (Holy War).

He studied mechanical engineering at the American University of North Carolina and stopped being part of the Muslim Brotherhood because they opposed the violence he was aiming for.

In Pakistan, he developed a relationship with the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and then passed on to him the idea of ​​what would eventually become 9/11.

In the late 2000s, he became leader of the propaganda committee of that jihadist organization in Kandahar (Afghanistan) and assured that in 2002 Bin Laden named him the head of the group’s foreign operations.

He is linked to some of the gang’s major attacks, such as those launched on the World Trade Center in 1993, with six dead, or the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, with more than 200 dead.

He was detained in Pakistan in 2003 and arrived at Guantánamo on September 4, 2006. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), he was subjected to simulated suffocation, torture that complicated the final trial.

2. Walid bin Attash, Bin Laden’s bodyguard
Born in Yemen in 1978, he is a former Al Qaeda lieutenant who served as Bin Laden’s bodyguard.

He fought against the Afghan Northern Alliance, a coalition opposed to the Taliban, and in one of those battles, in 1997, he lost part of his leg.

He helped coordinate and purchase materials for the bombing of the USS Cole in 1995, which killed 17 people, and was to participate in the 9/11 branch in Southeast Asia, which was ultimately aborted.

To do this, he studied security measures American airlines and in a two-week training session in Karachi, he learned the basics of English as well as how to use the Internet to encrypt communications and make travel reservations.

He was arrested on April 27 in Karachi, the same day he was supposed to receive the explosives for the operation in that same city, and until his arrival in Guantánamo on September 4, 2006, he was in the custody of the CIA in one of its secret centers.

3. Abd Al-Aziz Ali, KSM’s nephew and coordinator
Born in Kuwait 46 years ago but of Pakistani nationality, KSM’s nephew, also known as Ammar Al-Baluchi, is accused of facilitating the travel and transfer of money to at least 13 of the 19 people who hijacked the four used planes. The Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

He also acted as a “liaison” between his uncle and Indonesian leaders Al Qaedaaccording to the Defense profile, and enabled the escape of Al Qaeda fighters and their families from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

He was imprisoned in Karachi in April 2003, along with Bin Attash, and did not arrive at Guantánamo until September 2006, after spending around 1,200 days in CIA custody.

4. Mustafa al Hawsawi, assistant to those who hijacked the planes
Born in Saudi Arabia on August 5, 1978, he graduated in Islamic studies with the intention of becoming a madrasah teacher, but later lost that calling.

He became interested in the “jihadi life” after media coverage of the war in Chechnya, and because it was difficult for him to travel there, he went to Kabul in the early 2000s to join the jihad.

Started working on in the first quarter of 2002 for Al Qaeda’s financial directorand he himself claimed that he facilitated the movement of the four terrorists on September 11, emphasizing that he was unaware of the operation in question.

He was detained in Pakistan in March 2003, and like the previous one, he arrived at Guantánamo only in September 2006.

5. Ramzi bin Al-Shibh, sidelined because of his mental state
The 51-year-old Yemeni was removed from the case in September last year because the judge assessed that he was not mentally capable of facing a possible trial.

He is considered a key enabler of the attacks, and his direct involvement in them was thwarted by his repeated failed attempts to obtain a visa to the United States, leading him to assume the role of “coordinator”.

He was caught at the end of 2002 and together on the previous four and the other is one of six Guantánamo detainees whose charges could include the death penalty.