Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Kuwaiti national who is believed to be the highest-ranking al-Qaeda operative in US custody, told a military tribunal last weekend that he was Osama bin Laden’s “operational leader” for the “9/11 Operation,” responsible for the “organising, planning, follow-up, and execution” of the plot.

“I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z,” Mohammed said.

He also confessed to the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl and held himself central to 30 other plots in the US and worldwide that killed thousands of victims.

“I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan,” Mohammed is quoted as saying in a transcript of the military hearing, released by the Pentagon.

“For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head,” he added.

Mohammed’s claimed involvement in the 2002 slaying of the Wall Street Journal reporter was among 31 attacks and plots — some of which never occurred — he took responsibility for in a hearing on Saturday at the US naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said.

It released the bulk of the transcript late on Wednesday, but held back the section about Pearl’s killing to allow time for his family to be notified, said Defence Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Mohammed was present at the hour-long, closed-door hearing held on Saturday, and he interjected frequently in slightly broken English. His admission was read to the tribunal by an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was serving as his personal representative.

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