Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed operational mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and four co-defendants told a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Monday that they want to make a "confession" and enter guilty pleas to murder and war-crimes charges in the death-penalty case. The startling announcement came at the start of what was supposed to be a week of pre-trial hearings on various motions. It could create a major dilemma for the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who has said he wants to close the Guantanamo detention facility and prosecute defendants such as Mohammed in federal courts.
Judge Stephen R. Henley, an Army colonel, asked three of the defendants who are representing themselves if they were willing to enter guilty pleas Monday. All said they were ready to do so. Henley read from a document that the five sent him on Nov. 4 after they met together that day to plot legal strategy. The five said they had decided to "announce our confessions and plea in full," according to the document, which Henley read in court.
"Our success is the greatest praise of the Lord," the judge read from the document.
Offering to plead guilty along with Mohammed were Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Tawfiq bin Attash and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. A nephew of Mohammed's, Ali is also known as Ammar al-Baluchi.
Henley said he would not be able to accept pleas anytime soon from two defendants, Binalshibh and Hawsawi, because the court has yet to hold hearings on whether they are mentally competent to represent themselves.
Mohammed later told the court he would not enter a plea until a decision was made on whether the two can defend themselves. "I want to postpone pleas until decision is made about the other brothers," Mohammed said.
The military court was told in an earlier hearing that Binalshibh, an alleged liaison between the hijackers and al-Qaeda's leadership, is being administered psychotropic drugs. An attorney for Hawsawi, a Saudi and alleged financier of the attacks, said Monday he had requested a mental competency hearing for his client, but the lawyer did not provide any details on what prompted his concern.
Mohammed said he wants to end the death-penalty case quickly. He has previously expressed a desire to be executed, which he said would allow him to die a martyr.
"I understand we are in a big drama," said Mohammed. "We don't want to waste our time with motions and motions."
Earlier Monday, he requested the dismissal of the military attorney who has been advising him.