Obama Admn for military trial of 9/11 mastermind: report

Obama Administration is leaning towards a military trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

In a shift from its earlier stand,the Obama Administration is now leaning towards a military trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks,a media report said on Wednesday.

“White House officials said they were now leaning toward a military trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other defendants as part of an effort to make a deal with lawmakers,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “The aim (of a military trial) is to save the administration’s broader goal of allowing the Justice Department to try other terror suspects in civilian courts and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay prison,” it said.

However,the Obama administration has not taken any decision on the new venue of the trial of Khalid Sheikh. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said it would take quite some time before a decision in this regard is taken by the Obama Administration; whose plan to try the 9/11 mastermind in a New York court had to be scuttled due to strong opposition from the city Mayor and local lawmakers.

“I don’t expect a decision on that for several or many weeks,” Gibbs told reporters. “The (US) President obviously has gotten involved because Congress has actively been involved in venue options for any trial involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The President’s obviously strong equity in this is seeing that after many long years that justice is brought,” Gibbs added. Khalid Sheikh was captured in Rawalpindi,Pakistan in 2003 and has been in US custody since that time.