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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the principle architect of the 9/11 attacks.

Background

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was born in Kuwait, and is of Pakistani nationality. At age 16, Mohammed joined Muslim Brotherhood, and received training in jihad camps at an early age. In 1983, he went to the United States to attend North Carolina A&T, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

In 1994 and early 1995, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was living in Manila, in the Philippines. Also in the Philippines were his nephew, Ramzi Yousef and Abdul Murad. On January 6, 1995, Yousef and Murad were making bombs in their Manila apartment. While mixing chemicals, a fire started in the kitchen. Yousef and Murad took off, but Yousef sent Murad back to retrieve a laptop, which contained plans for Operation Bojinka and other terrorist operations. Murad was arrested and interrogated by authorities in the Philippines.

KSM remained in the Philippines until September 1995, likely under protection of Abu Sayyaf. He returned to the Gulf, living openly with his own name on a farm in Qatar, owned by Abdullah bin Khallad al-Thani who was the religious affairs minister. Other former Afghan jihadis also had stayed there.[1]

Mohammed arrived in Afghanistan in January 1996.[2] Mohammed was previously involved in terrorist plots, including the Manila air plot, and his nephew, Ramzi Yousef took part in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[2] The idea for the September 11 plot came from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who first presented the idea to Bin Laden in 1996.[3] At that point, Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were in a period of transition, having just relocated back to Afghanistan from Sudan. The 1998 African Embassy bombings marked a turning point, with Bin Laden intent on attacking the United States.[2]

In late 1998 or early 1999, Bin Laden gave approval for Mohammed to go forward with the plot.[2] A series of meetings occurred in spring of 1999, involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy Mohammed Atef.[2] Bin Laden provided leadership for the plot, along with financial support.[2] Bin Laden was also involved in selecting people to participate in the plot, including selecting Mohammed Atta as the lead hijacker.[4]

Mohammed was the head of Al Qaeda's 'military committee'.[5] He provided operational support, such as selecting targets and helping arrange travel for the hijackers.[2] Khalid Sheikh Mohammed explained to Fouda, "We had a large surplus of brothers willing to die as martyrs. As we studied various targets, nuclear facilities arose as a key option"... but the nuclear targets were dropped for concerns the plan would "get out of hand."[6]

U.S. visa

July 23. Khalid Sheikh Mohamed (KSM), a Pakistani and the chief tactical planner and coordinator of the 9/11 attacks, obtained a B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa to visit the United States. Although he was not a Saudi citizen and the 9/11 Commission did not believe he was in Saudi Arabia at the time, he applied for a visa using a Saudi passport under the alias of “Abdulrahman al Ghamdi.” On his application, KSM listed his address in the United States as “New York.” We believe someone else submitted his application, passport, and a photo to the U.S. embassy in Riyadh through the Visa Express program from the travel agency Minhal Travel, the same agency used by Saeed al Ghamdi for his June 12 application. Because he used an alias, KSM obtained a visa even though he was on the TIPOFF terrorist watchlist since 1996. There is no evidence that KSM ever used this visa under this alias to enter the United States.[7]

Responsibility for 9/11

In 2002, Al Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda conducted an interview in Karachi, Pakistan with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh.[8] During the interview, Mohammed admitted his involvement, along with Ramzi Binalshibh, in the "Holy Tuesday operation".[9] In the interview, Mohammed and Binalshibh explained how they "organised and executed the hijacks with Bin Laden's approval."[10] They also said that the U.S. Capitol was the intended target for United Airlines Flight 93, and not the White House.[10]

Mohammed was arrested on March 1, 2003 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.[11] Mohammed ultimately ended up at Guantanamo Bay. During a hearing in March 2007, Mohammed confessed his responsibility for the attacks, "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z."[12]

After 9/11

After 9/11, KSM lived in Karachi, Pakistan, in a safe house with Ramzi Binalshibh. KSM took over as al-Qaeda's chief of operations in March 2002, when Abu Zubaydah was arrested. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is linked to numerous other attacks, including the 2002 Al Djerba synagogue bombing in Tunisia, and the 2002 attacks in Bali, as well as the 2000 USS Cole bombing.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Fouda and Fielding (2003), p. 100
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 9/11 Commission, chapter 5
  3. ↑ Suspect 'reveals 9/11 planning', BBC News
  4. ↑ Bergen, Peter (2006). The Osama bin Laden I Know. Free Press, p. 283. 
  5. ↑ "Al-Jazeera reporter speaks on terrorist plans", Lateline / ABC (Australia) (September 30, 2002). 
  6. ↑ "Al-Jazeera offers accounts of 9/11 planning", CNN (September 12, 2002). 
  7. ↑ "Staff Monograph on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel". 9/11 Commission (2004).
  8. ↑ Ersan, Inal (September 6, 2002). "Arab Network Says Al Qaeda Figures Admit Sept. 11 Role", The Washington Post. 
  9. ↑ 'We left out nuclear targets, for now', The Guardian, March 4, 2003
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Watson, Jeremy (September 8, 2002). "Bin Laden Aides Reveal Role in US Attacks", Scotland on Sunday. 
  11. ↑ Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Names Names TIME, March 24, 2003
  12. ↑ September 11 mastermind 'confesses', Al Jazeera, March 15, 2007
  13. ↑ Fouda and Fielding (2003), p. 102

External links

KSM Enemy Combatant Tribunal:


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