'Try 9/11 conspirators in military commissions'

A bi-partisan group of six Senators on Wednesday asked the Obama administration to reverse its decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks, in civilian court rather than military commissions.

"Given the risks and costs, it is far more logical, cost-effective, and strategically wise to try Mohammed in the military commissions that Congress and the United States president have now established for that very purpose," the six Senators wrote in a letter to the US Attorney General Eric Holder.

The six Senators are Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham, Blanche Lincoln, Susan Collins, Jim Webb and John McCain. The Senators expressed their concerns regarding the policies of this administration with respect to those prisoners now detained at Guantanamo, and also any others who in the future might be charged with acts of international terrorism.

"We remain particularly concerned about using the US criminal justice system for trying enemy combatants," they said. "Of special importance, due to time constraints and location, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to try Mohammed and the other alleged conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York," the letter said.

The attacks of 9/11 were acts of war, and those who planned and carried out those attacks are war criminals, they noted.

"Today, those who subscribe to the same violent ideology as Mohammed, continue to plan and execute attacks against innocent civilians all over the world. It is not in our national interest to provide them further publicity or additional advantage," they argued.

The Senators said they and many others have already expressed serious concerns about whether a trial in civilian court might compromise classified evidence, including revealing sources and methods used by the intelligence community.

"We are also very concerned that, by bringing Mohammed and other terrorists responsible for 9/11 to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, only blocks away from where the Twin Towers once stood, you will be providing them one of the most visible platforms in the world to exalt their past acts and to rally others in support of further terrorism. Such a trial would almost certainly become a recruitment and radicalisation tool for those who wish us harm," they wrote.

The security and other risks inherent in holding the trial in New York City are reflected in City's Mayor Bloomberg's recent letter to the administration advising that New York City will be required to spend more than $ 200 million per year in security measures for the trial, the letter said.

"As Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly know too well, the threat of terrorist acts in New York City is a daily challenge. Holding Mohammed's trial in that city, and trying other enemy combatants in venues such as Washington, DC and northern Virginia, would unnecessarily increase the burden of facing those challenges, including the increased risk of terrorist attacks," the Senators wrote.

Image: File picture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Photograph: Ho New / Reuters