Guantanamo Bay has coerced yet another prisoner into spilling the beans. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to plotting the entire 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre, according to a transcript released by the US government today.
How truthful his account is, we may never know. He admitted plotting an inordinate number of events, including the 1993 World Trade Centre attack, the bombing of nightclub in Indonesia, the failed assassination attempts on former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as the attempt on Pope John Paul II’s life during a trip to the Philippines.
“I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z,” the statement read in Sheikh Mohammed’s name said, according to the transcript.
“I was the operational director for Sheikh Usama (Osama) Bin Laden for the organising, planning, follow-up, and execution of the 9/11 operation,” he said through his representative, a member of the US military.
- The Australian
Sheikh Mohammed also boasted the planning of attacks on the Library Tower in California, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank in Washington State, and the Empire State Building in New York, all to be carried out following the September 11 attacks.
Other claims included the bombings of US military vessels and oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz and Gibralter and the port of Singapore, as well as the destruction of the Panama Canal.
Alexander Downer himself stepped in to make a few comments on Mohammed.
“Eighty-eight Australians were killed in the Bali bombing and I’m delighted that he (Mohammed) is in Guantanamo Bay,” Mr Downer told reporters.
“I’m delighted that he’s facing justice because people who aid and abet terrorists or who are terrorists, they should face justice.”
Mr Downer said Mohammed’s actions were “truly deplorable” and all Australians should be reminded of the importance of fighting terrorism to avoid a repeat of the Bali and September 11 attacks.
“I went up to Bali and I saw the remains of 88 Australians, I was with their families,” he said.
“I knew exactly what the consequences of Bali were (and) that has hardened my resolve against these terrorists.”
Mr Downer said he had no concerns about the way in which Mohammed’s confessions were obtained.
- Australian Associated Press
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