‘Principal’ 9/11 suspect ‘open’ to help victims sue Saudi Arabia if death penalty ditched – media

One of the main alleged architects behind the 9/11 attacks in the US may now assist victims with their lawsuit for damages, if the US government spares him the death penalty, WSJ reports, citing court documents.

According to his attorney, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is ready to testify against the Saudi Arabian government, which is accused of helping coordinate the 9/11 attacks, WSJ reported.

Mohammed was named by the US as one of the “principal” suspects and masterminds of the 2001 plot and has been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba since 2008.

In a filing in the victims’ federal lawsuit disclosed on Friday, Mohammed’s lawyer states that his client would not agree to help now but that this is because of the “capital nature of the prosecution” and that “[in] the absence of a potential death sentence much broader cooperation would be possible.” 

According to the filing, Mohammed was one of five witnesses in federal custody contacted for depositions in the case against Saudi Arabia. It has been brought by families of the 9/11 victims and businesses that suffered losses when Al Qaeda terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and into a Pennsylvania field in 2001.

The tragedy resulted in over 3,000 deaths and billions in material losses. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, according to the CIA. One of them claimed that several members of the Saudi royal family had been donors to the terror group, then headed by Osama bin Laden. However, the country has repeatedly denied any involvement in the terror act.

Mohammed’s current stance differs greatly from the one he took at a 2008 Guantanamo hearing. Back then, when a military judge described the hearing as a “death-penalty case,” Mohammed said to him it was a “martyr case” and that he’s “been looking to be martyred for a long time.”

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