In the News: Suspected Terrorist Asks to Be Martyred

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has told a U.S. military judge that the wants to become a martyr for his role as a mastermind in the Sept. 11 attacks. During his arraignment, along with four co-defendants, at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Mohammed told the judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, that the wished to dismiss his attorneys and plead guilty. Under Islamic law, Muslims are prohibited from accepting attorneys. The defendants – all accused al Qaeda operatives – are being arraigned for their alleged role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, which, along with a hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, killed nearly 3,000 people. It is the first time all defendants have been together since their arrests in 2002 and 2003.

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