Accused 9/11 mastermind open to testimony against Saudi Arabia

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed open to testifying in victims’ lawsuit if US decides not to seek the death penalty against him. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, has indicated a willingness to cooperate in a lawsuit filed by victims seeking damages from Saudi Arabia, if the United States decides not to seek the death penalty against him. “Counsel stated that ‘the primary driver’ of this decision is the ‘capital nature of the prosecution’ and that ‘in the absence of a potential death sentence much broader cooperation would be possible’,” the letter said. Is it useable in a court of law in the United States is one of the big questions.” “The answer to that is not a clear yes, because information obtained has been tainted, the defence claims, and with cause, by having used illegal methods, enhanced interrogation, which is a euphemism for torture.” Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, pointed out that the civil case of the 9/11 victims is separate from the criminal case Mohammed is facing. In March 2018, US District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan, who oversees the litigation by victims, said their claims “narrowly articulate a reasonable basis” for him to assert jurisdiction through JASTA over Saudi Arabia.