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Critics force Obama to weigh up other venues for 9/11 trial
Source: Agencies |
January 31, 2010, Sunday
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THE Obama administration has begun looking for places other than the heart of New York City to prosecute the accused September 11 attack plotters in the face of fierce criticism tied to security and costs, US officials said on Friday.
Critics have said the government's plan to try self-professed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators blocks from the World Trade Center would require a large security cordon, hurt area businesses and afford the defendants certain legal rights in criminal court.
US Attorney General Eric Holder was considering other venues for the trials, according to one Obama administration official. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said: "We're considering our options."
The New York Times and Washington Post reported that the lower Manhattan courthouse was out of the running, citing unnamed administration officials. However, one Obama administration official said that "no decision has been made."
Holder in November decided the trials would be held in New York City, whose federal courthouse is connected to a fortified detention center with a tunnel.
"Conversations have occurred with the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally," another administration official said.
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he believed the trials are "unlikely" to occur there.
It was not clear what other venues are under consideration. New York officials have suggested a military base, the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, or nearby Governor's Island.
A US official has said that no terrorism trials had been held outside of a federal courthouse and there were questions whether a trial could be held on a military base.
The decision to reconsider the location comes as US President Barack Obama faces increased political pressure to refocus his agenda.
Critics have said the government's plan to try self-professed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators blocks from the World Trade Center would require a large security cordon, hurt area businesses and afford the defendants certain legal rights in criminal court.
US Attorney General Eric Holder was considering other venues for the trials, according to one Obama administration official. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said: "We're considering our options."
The New York Times and Washington Post reported that the lower Manhattan courthouse was out of the running, citing unnamed administration officials. However, one Obama administration official said that "no decision has been made."
Holder in November decided the trials would be held in New York City, whose federal courthouse is connected to a fortified detention center with a tunnel.
"Conversations have occurred with the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally," another administration official said.
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he believed the trials are "unlikely" to occur there.
It was not clear what other venues are under consideration. New York officials have suggested a military base, the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, or nearby Governor's Island.
A US official has said that no terrorism trials had been held outside of a federal courthouse and there were questions whether a trial could be held on a military base.
The decision to reconsider the location comes as US President Barack Obama faces increased political pressure to refocus his agenda.
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