Chief Prosecutor Statement on This Week's Hearing in the 9/11 Case

Good evening. On the eve of continuing pre-trial sessions this week, I wish to take a moment to remember the September 11th fallen and their loved ones who long for justice and some measure of peace. I remember in particular one gentleman who was at a business meeting on the 17th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the tower. His oldest son called him after the first plane hit the North Tower, urging him to leave. He replied that he was evacuating people and promised to leave soon. He was last seen rushing into the tower to get two-way radios to stay in touch with others just before the South Tower collapsed. Of the eleven employees from his company working there that day, ten survived because of his sacrifice. To his wife, other family members, and survivors who have traveled to Guantanamo Bay or to closed-circuit television sites in the United States to bear witness to these proceedings, I know that no words I offer today can match the depths of your loss. But you have the humble gratitude of your nation’s armed forces for sharing your generosity of spirit and enduring strength, which revive us all. Tomorrow morning, in United States v. Ramzi Binalshibh, a proceeding is scheduled to enable the Commission to hear argument on the government’s emergency motion to reconsider the order severing Mr. Binalshibh’s case from that of the other four Accused (AE 312A). Those Accused are Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. Although things could well change, Tuesday morning is then currently projected to commence with proceedings involving all five Accused or merely the latter four—depending upon how the Commission rules on the motion to reconsider—with the first order of business on Tuesday being the defense request for an inquiry into the existence of potential conflicts of interest in the defense teams (AE 292 series). Other items on the docket for the week include a motion of Mr. Hawsawi to sever his case (AE 299), a motion alleging defective referral of the charges for trial (AE 8), and a motion alleging unlawful influence upon the military commission (AE 31).