Wearing a military-style vest, self-declared 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) delivered a scathing anti-American diatribe at a military tribunal Wednesday in what the judge called a "one-time occurrence." The US president "can legislate assassinations under the name of national security for American citizens," the Kuwaiti-born Pakistani said during the third day of a pre-trial hearing at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Often considered an agitator, Mohammed - known by his initials KSM - was allowed to speak with a 40-second time delay that would have enabled his comments to be censored had he touched on sensitive issues. KSM was detained in a secret CIA prison from 2002 to 2006, and the government has acknowledged that he was subjected to water boarding 183 times. "Every dictator can choose" his definition of national security, he said.
"Many can kill people under the name of national security, many can torture people under the name of national security and detain children under the name of national security, under-aged children." KSM spoke calmly in Arabic and waited until each of his sentences had been translated into English. Having studied in the United States, he sometimes paused to correct the interpreter.
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