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Dublin: 10 °C Saturday 18 May, 2013

9/11 suspects set for Guantanamo trial

Five men are accused of orchestrating the attacks which killed almost 3,000 people on 11 September, 2001.

Image: AP Photo/Richard Drew/PA

FIVE MEN ACCUSED of planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks are due to appear before a military tribunal in Guantanamo.

US President Barack Obama put the case on hold three years ago as part of an effort to move it to civilian courts and close the Guantanamo facility. The president had pledged to close the Cuban base by 1 January 2010.

One of the five, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, claims to have masterminded the attacks in 2001 which killed almost 3,000 people. He was charged in 2008.

All five men are charged with terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy, murder and the destruction of property, and they face the death penalty if convicted.

Jim Harrington, lawyer for defendant Ramzi Binalshibh, told the AP that his client has “no intention of pleading guilty”.

“I don’t think anyone is going to plead guilty,” he added.

New rules implemented by Congress and President Obama have banned the use of testimony obtained through torture or cruel treatment. However, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth says that coerced testimony is still admissible, just not from defendants. Roth says the case should be heard at a civilian court instead of by a Pentagon-selected judge and jury panel.

Cameras are not being allowed inside the courtroom for the trial, but US authorities have agreed to broadcast hearings to US military bases so that the victims’ families can follow the trial without having to travel to Guantanamo.

The military tribunal is to begin hearing the case tomorrow.

Earlier: Guantanamo 10 years on: hopes for closure fade, detainees remain in limbo >

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Comments (28 Comments)

  • @ Kitalpha. Regarding Bush’s intelligence, one of his former advisors has written a book about his time with him. In it, he states that when Bush was talking behind closed doors, about subjects such as war, torture and revenge, that Bush was totally fluent and articulate. It was only when he spoke about subjects involving empathy, compassion etc., that he became tongue tied. This gave us the false impression that he lacked intelligence, when in fact he did not. The only things he lacked were the abilities to empathise with people and have a conscience regarding his actions. It is all too easy to misunderstand and therefore underestimate these types of personalities. We do so at our peril.

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  • First off Declan, over 1MILLION people have been confirmed dead as a result of the war in the wake of 9/11. Also, its been proven that America has spent over 1 TRILLION in the war against Al queda. The architect of the towers also stated that explosives were needed to take down the Towers. The plane did not have enough force to do so alone. If you watch when the plane hit the tower, the middle levels exploded, so you werent watching it too well or you would question this. As for america not releasing pictures of Osama bin Laden dead is because they dont have any!! Its been proven in recent weeks that the pictures originally linked to bin laden dead were photoshopped by using stills from the Black Hawk Down movie. I can currently post a link becuase I dont know how with my phone but Im sure if you researched, you would find these pictures!! You’re not putting up a good debate by saying “I saw the events unfold on tv”. Facts are facts and the Yanks are not hiding, but are not admitting to the real facts that are put to them!! Even americans have turned against their own and have said that it WAS an inside job.

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  • Why isnt George Bush on trial with them for setting the whole thing up!?

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  • Here is the link showing how the pentagon faked the bin laden assassination

    http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/galleryoffakebinladens.php

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  • Also stop with the “inside job” nonsense!

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    • If u are so sure of yourself Declan, show me just 1 piece of evidence of a plane hitting the pentagon. I’ll save you some time, there is none.

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    • Declan. Why was the air force stood down that morning. And don’t tell me that isn’t true. Its ridiculous to think a plane would be allowed fly towards the DC capitol for an hour without being intercepted after what happened in NYC. Wake up.

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    • standpoint, the trade center — subsidized since its inception — has never functioned, nor was it intended to function, unprotected in the rough-and-tumble real estate marketplace. [BusinessWeek]

      How could Silverstein Group have been ignorant of this?

      Also, the towers required some $200 million in renovations and improvements, most of which related to removal and replacement of building materials declared to be health hazards in the years since the towers were built.

      It was well-known by the city of New York that the WTC was an asbestos bombshell. For years, the Port Authority treated the building like an aging dinosaur, attempting on several occasions to get permits to demolish the building for liability reasons, but being turned down due the known asbestos problem. Further, it was well-known the only reason the building was still standing until 9/11 was because it was too costly to disassemble the twin towers floor by floor since the Port Authority was prohibited legally from demolishing the buildings. [Arctic Beacon]

      Other New York developers had been driven into bankruptcy by the costly mandated renovations, and $200 million represented an entire year’s worth of revenues from the World Trade Towers.

      The perfect collapse of the twin towers changed the picture.

      Under a pending agreement, a developer and his investors will get back most of the down payment that they made to lease the World Trade Center just six weeks before a terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers. Developer Larry Silverstein and investors Lloyd Goldman and Joseph Cayre are nearing a deal that would give them about $98 million of their original investment of $124 million, The New York Times reported Saturday. [MontereyHerald 11/22/2003]

      Instead of renovation, Silverstein is rebuilding, funded by the insurance coverage on the property which ‘fortuitously’ covered acts of terrorism. Even better, Silverstein filed TWO insurance claims for the maximum amount of the policy, based on the two, in Silverstein’s view, separate attacks. The total potential payout is $7.1 billion, more than enough to build a fabulous new complex and leave a hefty profit for the Silverstein Group, including Larry Silverstein himself.

      As reported in The Washington Post,the insurance company, Swiss Re,has gone to court to argue that the 9/11 disaster was only one attack, not two and that therefore the insurance payout should be limited to $3.55 billion, still enough to rebuild the complex. Update: WTC Leaseholder May Collect Up To $4.6B

      A federal jury on Monday ruled that the assault on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center was in fact two occurrences for insurance purposes. The finding in U.S. District Court in Manhattan means leaseholder Larry Silverstein may collect up to $4.6 billion, according to reports. [Forbes.com 12/06/04]

      The result of court ruling: Silverstein makes a huge profit off of the 9/11 attacks.

      See

      Reply
    • Many New Yorkers are already suffering the effects of so much asbestos in the air after the collapse sent tons of dust out across the city

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  • Come on! Everybody knows that Elvis & JFK were kept in ice by the Zionists under the control of the Roswell alien who is actually a Bildenberg with the intention of starting a costly & pointless war on behalf of Isreal. It’s on the Internet. & if you don’t believe me it’s because you are a stooge of the Mainstream media & New World Order.

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    • Typical response, if u say something about 9/11 u immediately get put in a bracket with all the crazy stuff on the internet. Personally i look at facts and scientific facts.

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    • Can we see some scientific facts then derek instead of just repeating a load of bollocks you read on the internet

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    • So why is the loads of bollocks from CNN any more trustworthy than the internet. Are you implying theres some unwritten journalistic standards that the corporate media adhere to. Man you are naieve. Does the Iraq wmd story alone not show you they will lie on command to back the establishment. Does the fact you never hear Ron Pauls name on fox BBC or sky show the have an agenda. the CNN has recorded its worst viewing figures ever this year shows that intelligent non brainwashed people can see they are full of shit and would rather believe there fellow citizens than a media owned by some billionaire. The mainstream media is dead

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  • At Derek Durkin! Am I so sure? I spent that whole day watching the events unfold! Listening to fools who say it was a “inside job” and some “conspiracy” is just laughable.

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    • Thats right, u believe everything your told without doing any research yourself. Thats a great way of leading your life and you still haven’t answered my above question.

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    • paul 04/05/12 #

      what can you tell me about building 7 declan that was odd

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    • Listen to what people there on the day witnessed and heard, and all the independent, even the FBI investigation into all the events leading up to and on the morning of the event, then go read the “Official 911 Report” and you will see the difference or lack of anything not repeated by the White House.
      Taking a look at the people involved in the instigation, eg the head appointed to lead the “Official 911 report”, his previous White house position, his stance and his loyalties, he was put there to make it read exactly how the Whitehouse said it did, everything that would lead to further investigations or contradict to the “official” “story” was ignored. Many FBI investigators quit and were fired over their work and findings being ignored, silenced and threatened to not push matters further. The large service work that went on in the 2 towers the weekend before where all security was disabled and the janitors witnessed moving of pallets into the buildings. The massive blasts felt and heard by many many people seconds before the planes struck from the basements, which knocked workers to the floor 3 levels below ground.
      The total destruction of all the banking scandal records conveniently destroyed in WTC7 which got many a banker off the hook. WT7 owner saying on camera “it was decided to pull the building after so much loss of life that day” yet no one was injured in WTC7 and the fire was contained to a corner on two floors yet they “pulled” it and it fell magically into its own footprint just like the other two towers. The military grade thermite found in the dust on window sills blocks from “ground zero”. Molten steel pools found in the basement levels of the rubble 2 weeks after the collapse.
      I could go on but I cant be bothered, oh lastly a terrorists passport managed to fall safely on top of the debris pointing the White house in the direction of the attackers and producing a list of 19 hijackers yet not a single muslin name was on the flight manifests and 5 of the hijackers came forward after their names were in the media from their homes in Yemen and Saudi Arabia knowing nothing about the attacks, but mostly to prove they were very much alive.
      Any one of these issues is worth a proper independent investigation and not get “national security” as a reason for data to be withheld when requested, but $3million is enough to blame some guys in caves around the world while it cost close to $78 million into Bill Clinton’s affair and later impeachment trial.

      Apologies for the brain dump.

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  • Millions dead??? Where did you get that figure? Going into Afghanistan after 9/11 was not illegal. There was widespread support for that action. If you are talking about Iraq, well that’s a different issue.

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  • Mr Durkin how do you know if I have done any research or not?
    Can you tell me where all the people who were on these planes have gone?
    Have the family members been involved in some cover up?
    And F 16 fighter jets were mobilized from the state I live in, to NYC.
    Also it’s more of a case of you believing in every you are told by wacky conspiracy theorists!
    Laughing at you now and good bye!

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    • Declan, i didn’t say i have the answers but i have plenty of questions and so do the family members of the victims who spent $2 million dollars on the 10th year anniversary on advertisments in NYC demanding a new investigation. And as for listening to wacky conspiracy theroists, i told u i do my own research and the facts and scientific facts as well don’t support the offical version of events.

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    • paul 04/05/12 #

      you didn’t answer my question declan, thanks for proving my point

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    • 9/11 was quite obviously yet another in a litany of false flag operations perpetrated down through history. It’s blatantly obvious you haven’t done an ounce of research Declan as you’ve demonstrated wonderfully your blind ignorance on the subject. You choose to laugh at Derek when in fact it’s laughable that anyone at this stage could possibly believe the nonsense spouted by the establishment. Actually, it’s pathetic – how can people be so asleep..? Building 7 anyone?

      Reply

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