September 11 trial in New York difficult
US: President Barack Obama said on Sunday he had not ruled out
putting the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on trial in
New York City but logistical issues and local opposition made it
difficult.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is being held at the U.S. military prison
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has claimed responsibility for organizing the
September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and bombings in
Indonesia, Kenya and elsewhere.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced in November that the Justice
Department had decided to bring Mohammed and four other suspects to New
York to stand trial for the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
The plan was to hold the trial in a federal courthouse just blocks
from the twin towers destroyed in the attacks, but it quickly ran into
high-level opposition from officials who worried about the risk and the
high cost of security.
Reports late last month indicated the administration was
reconsidering the decision.
Asked on Sunday in an interview with CBS News whether the
administration still planned to hold the trial in New York City, Obama
said, “I have not ruled it out.”
“But I think it’s important for us to take into account the
practical, logistical issues involved,” he added.
“If you’ve got a city that is saying ‘no’ and a police department
that’s saying ‘no’ and a mayor that’s saying ‘no,’ that makes it
difficult.”
Washington, Monday, Reuters |