Sept. 11 Mastermind Confesses In Guantanamo Hearing/Confessions List

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has long been the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and he allegedly confessed to that and a list of others during a military hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

According to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon, Mohammed claimed responsibility for several terrorist operations, including planning, financing, and training for bombings from the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center to the failed attempt by Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.

In all, Mohammed claimed responsibility for planning or aiding 31 attacks, including many that were never carried out.

 

Those include supposed plots against Presidents Clinton and Carter, Pope John Paul II, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Empire State Building and New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, the Panama Canal, and Big Ben and Heathrow Airport in London.

He apparently also confessed that he was the man who beheaded journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and killed in Pakistan in January 2002.

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

There were also references to a 2002 bombing of a Kenya beach resort frequented by Israelis and the infamous and unsuccessful missile attack on an Israeli passenger jet following its takeoff from Mombasa, Kenya.

He even claimed the Bali, Indonesia bombing as his handiwork. A nightclub explosion in the popular tourist destination in 2002 claimed 202 lives.

And he plotted to take out several nuclear power plants in the U.S. to disrupt the flow of electricity.

The comments were included in a 26-page transcript released by the Pentagon, which also blacked out some remarks. (See the full list of confessions below.)

Mohammed claims he was tortured by the CIA but pointedly noted he was making the confession of his own free will.

“I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z,” he’s quoted as saying.

“I was the operational director for Sheikh Usama (Osama) Bin Laden for the organizing, planning, follow-up, and execution of the 9/11 operation.”

The admissions from the self confessed terrorist, who was captured in March 2003, could see him get the death penalty.

Also on Wednesday, the Pentagon released transcripts of the hearings of Abu Faraj al-Libi and Ramzi Binalshibh.

Binalshibh’s suspected of helping Mohammed with Sept. 11 and has been linked to a plot to crash planes into London’s Heathrow Airport.

Al-Libi is a Libyan who reportedly masterminded two bombings in Pakistan in December 2003 that targeted President Pervez Musharraf because of his support of the U.S.-led war on terror.

The hearings began last Friday and are being conducted in secret in an attempt to determine whether 14 alleged terrorist leaders should be declared “enemy combatants,” allowing them to be held indefinitely and prosecuted by military tribunals.

Six hearings have already been held, but reporters aren’t allowed in and information’s limited, with military officials insisting they want to prevent sensitive information from being disclosed.

The 14 were moved in September from a secret CIA prison network to the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where about 385 men are being held on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

 

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Text of Mohammed’s confessions

1. I was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center Operation.

2. I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z.

3. [Third confession has been redacted]

4. I was responsible for the Shoe Bombing Operation to down two American planes.

5. I was responsible for the Filka Island Operation in Kuwait that killed two American soldiers.

6. I was responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, which was frequented by British and American nationals.

7.  I was responsible for planning, training, surveying and financing the new (or second) wave of attacks against the following skyscrapers after 9/11:

a) Library Tower, California
b) Sears Tower, Chicago
c) Plaza Bank, Washington State
d) The Empire State Building, New York City

8. I was responsible for planning, financing and follow-up of operations to destroy American military vessels and oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar and the Port of Singapore.

9. I was responsible for the planning, training, surveying and financing for the operation to bomb and destroy the Panama Canal.

10. I was responsible for surveying and financing the assassination of several former American presidents, including President Carter.

11. I was responsible for surveying, planning and financing the bombing of suspension bridges in New York.

12. I was responsible for planning to destroy the Sears Tower by burning a few fuel or oil tanker trucks beneath it or around it.

13. I was responsible for planning, surveying and financing for the operation to destroy Heathrow Airport, the Canary Wharf building and Big Ben on British soil.

14. I was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the destruction of many night clubs frequented by American and British citizens on Thailand soil.

15. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the New York Stock Exchange and other financial targets after 9/11.

16. I was responsible for financing, planning and surveying for the destruction of buildings in the Israeli city of Elat by using airplanes leaving from Saudi Arabia.

17. I was responsible for planning, surveying and financing for the destruction of American embassies in Indonesia, Australia and Japan.

18. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the Israeli Embassy in India, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Australia.

19. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of an Israeli El-Al airlines flight on Thailand soil departing from Bangkok Airport.

20. I was responsible for sending several Mujahadeen into Israel to conduct surveillance to hit several strategic targets deep in Israel.

21. I was responsible for the bombing of the hotel in Mombasa that is frequented by Jewish travellers via El-Al airlines.

22. I was responsible for launching a Russian-made SA-7 surface-to-air missile on El-Al or other Jewish airliners departing from Mombasa.

23. I was responsible for the planning and surveying to hit American targets in South Korea, such as American military bases and a few night clubs frequented by American soldiers.

24. I was responsible for providing financial support to hit American, Jewish and British targets in Turkey.

25. I was responsible for surveillance needed to hit nuclear power plants that generate electricity in several U.S. states.

26. I was responsible for planning, surveying and financing to hit NATO Headquarters in Europe.

27. I was responsible for the planning and surveying needed to execute the Bojinka Operation, which was designed to down twelve American airplanes full of passengers. I personally monitored a round-trip Manila-to-Seoul Pam Am flight.

28. I was responsible for the assassination attempt against President Clinton during his visit to the Philippines in 1994 or 1995.

29. I shared responsibility for the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II while he was visiting the Philippines.

30. I was responsible for the training and financing for the assassination of Pakistan’s President Musharaf.

31. I was responsible for the attempt to destroy an American oil company owned by the Jewish former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.