USA. EXECUTION SOUGHT FOR SIX DETAINEES IN 9/11 ATTACKS

February 11, 2008: the US military is requesting the death penalty for six terrorist suspects accused of playing central roles in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The suspects are being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and include al-Qaeda commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,973 people, including eight children," Air Force Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, legal adviser to the Defense Department's Office of Military Commissions, said in announcing the indictments to reporters at the Pentagon.
The charges filed against the six include conspiracy, murder, attacking civilians, terrorism and supporting terrorism, Hartmann said. The other detainees charged are Mohammed al-Kahtani, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi and Walid Muhammad Bin Attash, he said.
The men would be tried in the military tribunal system that was established after the start of the war on terror. Critics say the system would unlawfully limit suspects' rights by using closed hearings and denying them the right to uncover evidence in their favour. (Sources: West Australian, 12/02/2008)