Two decades later, 9/11 self-professed mastermind awaits trial
Published:Friday | September 9, 2022 | 8:15 PM
NEW YORK (AP) — Hours before dawn on March 1, 2003, the United States scored its most thrilling victory yet against the plotters of the September 11 attacks — the capture of a dishevelled Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, hauled away by intelligence agents from a hideout in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
The global manhunt for al-Qaida's No. 3 leader had taken 18 months.
But America's attempt to bring him to justice, in a legal sense, has taken much, much longer.
Critics say it has become one of the war on terror's greatest failures.
As Sunday's 21st anniversary of the terror attacks approaches, Mohammed and four other men accused of 9/11-related crimes still sit in a US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, their planned trials before a military tribunal endlessly postponed.
The latest setback came last month when pretrial hearings scheduled for early fall were cancelled.
The delay was one more in a string of disappointments for relatives of the nearly 3,000 victims of the attack.
They've long hoped that a trial would bring closure and perhaps resolve unanswered questions.
“Now, I'm not sure what's going to happen,” said Gordon Haberman, whose 25-year-old daughter Andrea died after a hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center, a floor above her office.
He's travelled to Guantanamo four times from his home in West Bend, Wisconsin, to watch the legal proceedings in person, only to leave frustrated.
“It's important to me that America finally gets to the truth about what happened, how it was done,” said Haberman.
“I personally want to see this go to trial.”
If convicted at trial, Mohammed could face the death penalty.
When asked about the case, James Connell, an attorney for one of Mohammed's co-defendants — one accused of transferring money to 9/11 attackers — confirmed reports both sides are still “attempting to reach a pretrial agreement” that could still avoid a trial and result in lesser but still lengthy sentences.
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