The alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attack in the US has admitted to being responsible, the US says.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, also admitted to being behind other al-Qaeda operations, according to a transcript of a hearing released by the Pentagon on Wednesday.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z," Mohammed said in the transcript.
He admitted to being Osama bin Laden's operational director for "the organising, planning, follow-up and execution of the 9/11 operation".
Mohammed's confession was recorded by a US military representative during a hearing at the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba on Saturday.
The hearing was being held to determine whether Mohammed, a Pakistani national, can be defined as an "enemy combatant".
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2002: Bali nightclub bombings
2002: Bombing of a Kenya beach
resort frequented by Israelis
2002: missile attack on an Israeli
airliner in Kenya
2001: World Trade Centre and the
Pentagon
1993: Truck bombing of World Trade
Centre
Planned but failed attacks:
- Sears Tower in Chicago
- Empire State Building in New York
- New York Stock Exchange
- Nuclear power plants and suspension
bridges in New York
- US and Israeli embassies in Asia
and Australia
- US naval vessels and oil tankers
around the world
- Panama Canal
- Big Ben clocktower in London
- Heathrow airport
- Shoe bombing by Richard Reid on
trans-Atlantic flight
Planned assassination attempts:
- Jimmy Carter, then US president
- Bill Clinton, then US president
- John Paul II, Roman Catholic pope
- Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan
president |
Mohammed also claimed responsibility for an attack on New York's World Trade Centre in 1993, the 2002 bombing of a Bali nightclub in Indonesia and an attempt to take down two American aircraft using shoe bombs, according to the transcript.
He also said he was tortured by the CIA after he was arrested in Pakistan in March 2003 and handed over to the US.
The transcripts also lay out evidence against Mohammed, saying that a
computer seized during his capture included detailed information about the September 11 plot - ranging from names and photos of the hijackers to photos of hijacker Mohammad Atta's pilot's licence and letters from al-Qaeda bin Laden.
Mohammed was among 14 prisoners identified by US authorities as "high-value" suspects and transferred to Guantanamo last year from secret CIA prisons abroad.
The Pentagon also released transcripts of the hearings of Abu Faraj
al-Libi and Ramzi Binalshibh, although Binalshibh refused to attend his
session.
Binalshibh, a Yemeni, is suspected of helping Mohammed with the September 11 attack plan and is also linked to a foiled plot to crash aircraft into London's Heathrow airport.
Al-Libi is a Libyan who reportedly masterminded two bombings 11 days apart in Pakistan in December 2003 that targeted Pervez Musharraf, the president, for his support of the US "war on terror".