Guantanamo CourtroomFive 9/11 Suspects Offer To Confess -- Washington Post
But Proposal Is Pulled Over Death Penalty Issue
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 8 -- Five of the men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks said Monday that they wanted to plead guilty to murder and war crimes but withdrew the offer when a military judge raised questions about whether it would prevent them from fulfilling their desire to receive the death penalty.
"Are you saying if we plead guilty we will not be able to be sentenced to death?" Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed operational mastermind of the attacks, asked at a pretrial hearing here.
The seesaw proceedings Monday raised and then postponed the prospect of a conviction in a case that has become the centerpiece of the system of military justice created by the Bush administration. A conviction would have capped a seven-year quest for justice after the 2001 attacks, but the delay in entering pleas will probably extend the process beyond the end of the Bush presidency.
Read more ....
More News At The Guantanamo Tribunal
9/11 suspects ask to confess but postpone pleas -- AFP
Accused 9/11 plotters say they want to confess -- AP
Alleged 9/11 plotters at Guantanamo offer to plead guilty -- McClatchy Washington
Key 9/11 Suspects Ready to Confess -- Wall Street Journal
Chaos at Guantanamo Tribunal -- Los Angeles Times
Offer of Plea Serves Mohammed and Bush -- Washington Post
Whither Guantanamo Inmates? -- Washington Times
Prosecute or Free -- Washington Times opinion