9/11 mastermind to face trial 27 years after 2001 attack
The trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been scheduled for June 2028, nearly 27 years after the attacks and less than two years after the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.
A military judge at Guantanamo Bay ruled Wednesday that proceedings against Mohammed and three alleged co-conspirators will begin on 5 June 2028. The decision comes as the United States prepares to mark 25 years since the attacks next month.
The ruling extends a legal saga that has lasted more than two decades, with questions over evidence, interrogation methods and the handling of plea negotiations repeatedly delaying the case.
Mohammed, who has said he planned the 2001 operation «from A to Z,» is accused of developing the idea of training pilots to fly hijacked commercial aircraft into the World Trade Center towers before presenting the plan to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Four defendants face trial at Guantanamo
The scheduled trial will also involve Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who are accused of helping plan or facilitate the attacks.
US Air Force Lt Col. Michael A. Schrama selected the date after rejecting a prosecution proposal for a trial in 2027. The judge said the additional time was needed to address outstanding matters, including disputes over which evidence can be presented in court.
The case centres on the September 11, 2001, attacks, when 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers seized control of four commercial aircraft.
Two planes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center, another struck the Pentagon in Virginia, and a fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to regain control.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, which triggered the US-led war in Afghanistan and reshaped American security policy for decades.
Mohammed’s capture and years at Guantanamo
Mohammed was born in Kuwait and studied engineering in the United States before becoming involved with militant networks. US authorities captured him in Pakistan in March 2003 along with al-Hawsawi.
He was held in CIA custody at secret overseas detention sites before being transferred to the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in September 2006.
US officials have accused him of being a principal architect of the operation and of presenting the concept of using aircraft as weapons to bin Laden.
The treatment of the defendants in US custody has complicated the long-running prosecution. Mohammed was subjected to CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, while defence lawyers have argued that evidence obtained during years of detention and coercive interrogation should not be admissible.
Plea deal collapsed after years of negotiations
The case appeared to move towards a resolution in 2024 when Mohammed and the other defendants reached plea agreements with US prosecutors.
Under Mohammed’s proposed deal, he would plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, avoiding a death-penalty trial.
The agreement followed roughly two years of negotiations and was approved by an official appointed by then-US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Austin subsequently attempted to withdraw the agreement after the decision reportedly caught him off guard. The dispute eventually reached the courts.
A federal appeals court later overturned the plea agreements, sending the case back towards a potential capital trial and reopening questions about how the prosecution could proceed.
The 25th anniversary in September will arrive with no verdict in the case and no trial date in the immediate future. Instead, the proceedings will remain tied to Guantanamo Bay, the detention facility established in January 2002, roughly four months after the attacks.
About 15 detainees remain at the prison, which has become one of the most enduring symbols of the US government’s post-9/11 detention and interrogation programme.
