Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in court with ‘9/11 mastermind’

Sitting in the front row of the military court at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the world’s most famous defendants, appeared to listen intently.

“Can you confirm that Mr. Mohammed is pleading guilty to all charges and counts without exception or substitution?” the judge asked his lawyer as Mohammed watched.

“Yes, we can, Sir,” replied the lawyer.

Sitting in court, 59-year-old Mohammed, his beard dyed bright orange and dressed in a headdress, tunic and trousers, looked little like a photograph. It circulated shortly after its capture in 2003

Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in the US, was due to plead guilty this week – more than 23 years after nearly 3,000 people died in what the US government described as “the worst criminal act”. American soil in modern history.”

But two days later, when Mohammed was set to formally enter his decision – the result of a controversial deal he struck with US government prosecutors – he watched in silence as the judge said the proceedings had been halted by a federal appeals order. the court

It was expected to be a landmark week in a case that has endured a decade of delays. Now, with a new complication, the future remains uncertain.

“It will be an eternal trial,” said a relative of one of the victims of September 11.

Mohammed has previously said he planned “Operation 9/11 to AZ” – he came up with the idea of ​​training pilots to fly commercial airliners into buildings and took those plans to the leader of the militant Islamist group Osama bin Laden. Qaeda

But he has not yet been able to formally admit his guilt in court. This week’s suspension comes as a result of a deal reached last year between US prosecutors and his legal team, under which Mohammed would not face the death penalty in exchange for his guilty plea.

The US government has months tried to cancel the dealthat failure to proceed with the deal would cause “irreparable” harm to both him and the American public. Supporters of the deal see it as the only way forward in a case complicated by the torture Mohammed and others suffered in US custody and question whether it taints the evidence.

After a last-minute appeal by prosecutors, three judges of the Federal Court of Appeal asked for a delay to give them time to consider the arguments before making a decision.

But the victims’ families already flew to the base once a week to watch the pleas in a viewing gallery, where thick glass separated them and members of the press from the sprawling high-security courtroom.

Attendees won through a raffle system at this week’s event. They arranged for babysitting and paid kennels to attend their pets, knowing they could cancel at any time. They learned Thursday night while speaking to the media at a base hotel that the requests would not go forward.

Elizabeth Miller, whose father, New York City firefighter Douglas Miller, died in the attacks when she was six, said she was in favor of the deal to “give it last,” but acknowledged there were other families who felt the same way. it was too soft.

“It’s so frustrating that every time this goes back and forth, each camp gets their hopes up and then gets crushed again,” he said, as other relatives nodded in agreement.

“It’s like an eternal limbo… It’s like a constant scourge.”

This week’s suspension is just the latest in a series of delays, complications and controversies at the base, where the US military has held detainees for 23 years.

The military prison at Guantanamo was established in the “war on terror” after the 9/11 attacks that Mohammed is accused of orchestrating. The first detainees were brought there on January 11, 2002.

Then-President George Bush issued a military order establishing military courts to try non-US citizens, saying they could be held without charge indefinitely and could not legally challenge their detention.

Dressed in bright orange jumpsuits, the 20 men were taken to a temporary detention center called X-Ray, where the cells were exposed cages and bed mats on the floor.

The camp, surrounded by barbed wire, is long abandoned and overgrown; weeds are growing on the wooden lookouts and the signs on the fence say “no limits” in red text.

Although conditions at Guantanamo have improved, it continues to receive criticism from the United Nations and rights groups for the treatment of detainees. And it continues to challenge US officials and advocates who hope to see it shut down.

As president, Barack Obama pledged to close the prison during his term, saying it was against US values. These efforts were revived under the Biden administration.

Unlike Mohammed, most people from its inception were never charged with a crime.

Current detention facilities are off-limits to journalists, with access only granted to those with security clearances.

A short drive away is an Irish pub, a McDonald’s, a bowling alley, and a museum that serves the military and contractors on the base, most of whom have never been on the prison grounds.

As legal teams, journalists and families gathered at the base to plead with Mohammed, a covert operation was carried out early in the morning to relocate a group of 11 Yemeni detainees from the base to Oman.

With the transfer, the base, which once held nearly 800, now has just 15, the lowest number in its history.

Of those who remain, all but six have been charged with or convicted of war crimes, and lawyers argue their cases in complex legal battles in high-security courts on the base.

Dismissing the court on Friday, the judge said Mohammed’s petitions, if allowed to go forward, would now be left to the next US administration.