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December 8, 2015

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鈥9/11 Five鈥 due back in court but trial elusive

The five men accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks 鈥 including the alleged mastermind 鈥 are due back in military court this week, though their prospects for an actual trial remain elusive.

More than 14 years after al-Qaida hijackers seized four passenger jets and killed about 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, the 鈥9/11 Five鈥 who allegedly helped hatch the plot remain holed up in the US military鈥檚 prison at Guantanamo Bay in southeastern Cuba.

Their case is moving at a snail鈥檚 pace, slowed by countless defense motions and allegations of government misconduct, coupled with the sheer logistical headache of flying the judge, lawyers and other staff into and out of America鈥檚 remote penal colony every time the men appear in court.

At the center of the case is Pakistan-born Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was arrested in 2003 and subjected to 鈥渆nhanced interrogation鈥 by the Central Intelligence Agency, including numerous waterboarding sessions.

He was transferred to Guantanamo in 2006 and has publicly admitted to being the principal planner behind the 9/11 attacks.

The other four accused are: Walid bin Attash and Ramzi Binalshibh of Yemen, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali 鈥 Mohammed鈥檚 nephew 鈥 and Mustapha al-Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia.

All five men face the death penalty, but any verdicts are likely years away.

They are due in court for a series of pre-trial hearings in which judge Colonel James Pohl will try to sift through a slew of defense motions, including one seeking to depose a former CIA interpreter who was working on one of the defense teams.

Further complicating matters is a workplace dispute, in which women prison guards complained after Pohl ordered them to stop escorting the detainees.

The defense had argued that Mohammed experienced sexual humiliation while being tortured by the CIA.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a torture victim,鈥 Mohammed鈥檚 lead attorney David Nevin said. 鈥淗aving to be handled by female guards recapitulates that torture.鈥

Pohl in January ordered the women guards to stop touching the detainees, prompting outrage from senior defense officials.


 

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