9/11 mastermind may not be tried in New York
Source: Agencies |
February 1, 2010, Monday
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ACCUSED September 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried and likely convicted and executed, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said yesterday.
Interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union," show, Gibbs said: "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and he's going to meet his maker. He will be brought to justice and he's likely to be executed for the heinous crimes he committed."
Gibbs did not confirm reports that the Obama administration has begun looking for places other than the heart of New York City to prosecute self-professed mastermind Mohammed and four accused co-conspirators in the face of fierce criticism tied to security and costs.
"We are talking with the authorities in New York. We understand their logistical concerns," Gibbs said. "We will work with them and come to a solution that we think will bring about justice."
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," senior White House adviser David Axelrod said President Barack Obama still wanted Mohammed and the other September 11 defendants to be tried in the United States justice system.
"The president believes we need to take into consideration what the local authorities are saying. But he also believes this: He believes that we ought to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and all others who are involved in terrorist acts to justice, swift and sure, in the American justice system."
US Attorney General Eric Holder decided in November the trials would be held in New York, where the federal courthouse is connected to a fortified detention center with a tunnel. But US officials said last week Holder has begun considering other venues.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, also on CNN, said the accused plotters should be tried by a military commission, preferably at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He said Republicans would deny the administration the funding to mount a trial in New York and predicted that many Democrats would join them. "Interrogate them, detain them and try them in a military commission offshore at Guantanamo," McConnell said.
Obama promised to close the Guantanamo prison, which became a focus of anti-American feeling worldwide, within a year of taking office, a pledge he failed to meet. The administration now plans to transfer some of its remaining 192 prisoners to a state prison it hopes to acquire in Illinois.
Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reversed his support for holding the trials in Manhattan. "I can tell you I would prefer if it was done elsewhere. I think some of the suggestions make sense, like a military base, because it's far away from people and you can provide security easily," he said.
In addition to security concerns, some lawmakers ¨? as well as some relatives of the almost 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks ¨? have said the defendants could use the criminal courts as soapboxes to propagate their anti-US beliefs and turn the trials into a media circus.
Interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union," show, Gibbs said: "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and he's going to meet his maker. He will be brought to justice and he's likely to be executed for the heinous crimes he committed."
Gibbs did not confirm reports that the Obama administration has begun looking for places other than the heart of New York City to prosecute self-professed mastermind Mohammed and four accused co-conspirators in the face of fierce criticism tied to security and costs.
"We are talking with the authorities in New York. We understand their logistical concerns," Gibbs said. "We will work with them and come to a solution that we think will bring about justice."
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," senior White House adviser David Axelrod said President Barack Obama still wanted Mohammed and the other September 11 defendants to be tried in the United States justice system.
"The president believes we need to take into consideration what the local authorities are saying. But he also believes this: He believes that we ought to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and all others who are involved in terrorist acts to justice, swift and sure, in the American justice system."
US Attorney General Eric Holder decided in November the trials would be held in New York, where the federal courthouse is connected to a fortified detention center with a tunnel. But US officials said last week Holder has begun considering other venues.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, also on CNN, said the accused plotters should be tried by a military commission, preferably at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He said Republicans would deny the administration the funding to mount a trial in New York and predicted that many Democrats would join them. "Interrogate them, detain them and try them in a military commission offshore at Guantanamo," McConnell said.
Obama promised to close the Guantanamo prison, which became a focus of anti-American feeling worldwide, within a year of taking office, a pledge he failed to meet. The administration now plans to transfer some of its remaining 192 prisoners to a state prison it hopes to acquire in Illinois.
Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reversed his support for holding the trials in Manhattan. "I can tell you I would prefer if it was done elsewhere. I think some of the suggestions make sense, like a military base, because it's far away from people and you can provide security easily," he said.
In addition to security concerns, some lawmakers ¨? as well as some relatives of the almost 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks ¨? have said the defendants could use the criminal courts as soapboxes to propagate their anti-US beliefs and turn the trials into a media circus.
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