View source for Walid bin Attash

{{Short description|Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee (born 1978)}}
{{Infobox War on Terror detainee
| image          = BinAttash.jpg
| name           = Walid Muhammad Salih bin Mubarak bin Attash
| image_size     =
| caption        = 
| birth_date     = {{birth year and age|1978}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/82931-isn-10014-walid-bin-attash-jtf-gtmo-detainee/10b3eaec3899d1f0/full.pdf|title=JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment|work=Department of Defense}}</ref>
| birth_place    = [[Yemen]]
| death_date     =
| death_place    =
| detained_at    = [[CIA]] [[black sites]], [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo]]
| id_number      = 10014
| group          =
| alias          = Tawfiq bin Attash<ref name=PaulWolfowitz>{{cite web| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/Speeches/Speech.aspx?SpeechID=143| title=Prepared Statement for the House Armed Services Committee: As Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Washington, DC| date= August 10, 2004| author=Deputy Secretary of Defense| author-link=Deputy Secretary of Defense| publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]| access-date=April 15, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/mueller022404.htm
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212023814/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/mueller022404.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=December 12, 2012
|title=Testimony of Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, FBI: Before the Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate|date=February 24, 2004|author=Robert S. Mueller, III|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]|access-date=April 15, 2007}}</ref><ref name=911Commission>{{cite web|url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_App.htm|title=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States| publisher=[[9/11 Commission]]|access-date=April 15, 2007}}</ref><br />Khallad<ref>{{cite news
|title=Detainees, as Lawyers, Test Tribunal System| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/11gitmo.html|first=William
|last=Glaberson|date=July 11, 2008|access-date=September 27, 2011|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref><br />Silver<ref name=rulit>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rulit.net/books/the-black-banners-read-249656-68.html |title=The Black Banners |access-date=2014-04-05 |archive-date=2014-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204024812/http://www.rulit.net/books/the-black-banners-read-249656-68.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| charge         = Charged before a military commission
| penalty        =
| status         =
| occupation     =
| spouse         =
| parents        =
| children       =
}}
'''Walid Muhammad Salih bin Mubarak bin Attash''' ({{langx|ar|وليد محمد صالح بن مبارك بن عتش}}; born 1978)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/guantanamo-bay-detainees.html|title=The Guantánamo Docket|first=The New York|last=Times|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 18, 2021}}</ref> is a Yemeni prisoner held at the United States' [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] under terrorism-related charges and is suspected of playing a key role in the early stages of the 9/11 attacks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Carol |date=2023-02-22 |title=Trial Guide: The Sept. 11 Case at Guantánamo Bay |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/september-11-trial-guantanamo-bay.html |access-date=2023-03-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Office of the [[Director of National Intelligence]] has described him as a "scion of a terrorist family".<ref name=odni14>
{{cite web| url=http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf| title=Detainee Biographies
|publisher=[[Office of the Director of National Intelligence]]|archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20091119181208/http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf|archive-date=2009-11-19| url-status=dead}}</ref> American prosecutors at the [[Guantanamo military commission]]s allege that he helped in the preparation of the 1998 [[1998 United States embassy bombings|East Africa Embassy bombings]] and the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]]<ref name=CsrtWalidMuhammadSalihAttashSummaryOfEvidence>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ISN10014.pdf#1
|title=Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Bin Attash, Walid Muhammad Salih|date=February 8, 2007
|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]|author=OARDEC|author-link=OARDEC|access-date=2007-04-15
}}</ref> and acted as a [[Osama bin Laden bodyguard|bodyguard to Osama bin Laden]],<ref name="memo"/> gaining himself the reputation of an "errand boy".<ref name="tower"/> He is formally charged with selecting and helping to train several of the hijackers of the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>[[NBC News]], [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23108871 Pentagon charges 6 in 9-11 attacks]</ref> On 31 July 2024, Attash agreed to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/us/politics/sept-11-guilty-plea.html |title=Accused Sept. 11 Plotters Agree to Plead Guilty at Guantánamo Bay |date=31 July 2024 |last=Rosenberg |first=Carol |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=31 July 2024}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Nakashima |first=Ellen |last2=Somasundaram |first2=Praveena |date=31 July 2024 |title=Accused 9/11 plotters reach plea deals with U.S. to avoid death penalty |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/31/sept-11-case-plea-agreement/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240801004427/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/31/sept-11-case-plea-agreement/ |archive-date=1 August 2024 |access-date=1 August 2024 |work=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> His plea deal was revoked by Secretary of Defense [[Lloyd Austin]] two days later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/02/us/politics/911-plotters-plea-deal.html |title=Defense Secretary Revokes Plea Deal for Accused Sept. 11 Plotters |date=2 August 2024 |last=Rosenberg |first=Carol |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Paúl |first=María Luisa |last2=Lamothe |first2=Dan |last3=Ferguson |first3=Amber |date=2 August 2024 |title=Defense secretary revokes plea deals with accused 9/11 plotters |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/08/02/9-11-plea-deals-rejected-lloyd-austin/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803093819/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/08/02/9-11-plea-deals-rejected-lloyd-austin/ |archive-date=3 August 2024 |access-date=3 August 2024 |work=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

==Life==
Hailing from a prominent Saudi family on friendly terms with [[Osama bin Laden]],<ref>[[CNN]], [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/05/03/pakistan.terror/index.html Arrests amid Karachi terror plot], May 3, 2003</ref> Attash had several brothers fighting during the tumultuous [[History of Afghanistan since 1992|1990s in Afghanistan]].<ref name="profiling">Burger, Timothy J. ''[[TIME]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20080216100120/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1532315,00.html Profiling the Terrorists], September 6, 2006</ref> His family was deported from Yemen based on his father's radical views, and he grew up in Saudi Arabia.<ref name="martyr">Bell, Stewart. "The Martyr's Oath", 2005.</ref>

He studied at the [[University of Islamic Studies]] in [[Karachi, Pakistan]].<ref name="memo">[[s:CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for Walid Bin Attash|CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for Walid bin Attash]], February 8, 2007</ref>

Attash lost his right leg in 1997 while fighting against the [[Northern Alliance]] and wore a metal prosthesis in its place,<ref name="tower">[[Lawrence Wright|Wright, Lawrence]], ''[[The Looming Tower]]'', 2006</ref><ref name="profiling" /> leading to the nicknames "''Father of the Leg''"<ref name=CsrtWalidMuhammadSalihAttashSummaryOfEvidence/> and Silver, the latter a reference to [[Long John Silver]] who similarly had only one real leg.<ref name=rulit/> His brother was killed in the same battle, and his death led Attash to join [[al-Qaeda]].<ref name="martyr" />

He was asked to help obtain explosives to target the [[USS The Sullivans (DDG-68)|USS ''The Sullivans'']] in 1999, as part of the intended [[2000 millennium attack plots]].<ref name="martyr" />

In late 1999, while using the [[nom de guerre]] ''Khallad'', Attash phoned [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], informing him of the upcoming [[Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit]]. In January 2000, Attash flew to [[Malaysia]], ostensibly to receive a new [[prosthetic leg]], and attended the summit. On January 8, [[Malaysian Special Branch]] informed the [[CIA]] that Attash had flown to [[Bangkok]] together with al-Mihdhar and [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]]. While there, the [[FBI]] received a transcript of a phone call from [[Fahd al-Quso]] and one of the {{USS|Cole|DDG-67|6}} bombers, which mentioned giving Attash $5,000 to purchase a new prosthesis. During later interrogation, al-Quso confessed that he was handing over $36,000, and that it wasn't actually meant to purchase a prosthesis.<ref name="tower" />

In October 2000, Attash was identified as the [[USS Cole bombing mastermind|mastermind]] behind the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]] which took place in [[Aden]], [[Yemen]].<ref name=2006-03-28>{{cite news
|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/28/moussaoui/index.html |title=Al Qaeda witnesses saw Moussaoui as a bumbler
|date=2006-03-28 |author=Phil Hircshkorn |quote=Tawfiq bin Atash, a senior al Qaeda operative considered the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing in 2000, also assisted the 9/11 plot. |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703104421/http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/28/moussaoui/index.html |url-status=live |archive-date=2009-07-03}}</ref>

On September 11, 2002, his 17-year-old brother [[Hassan bin Attash]] was taken prisoner by Pakistani forces raiding the [[Tariq Road House]], handed over to the Americans and sent to [[The Dark Prison]].<ref name=CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceHassanMohammedAliBinAttash>{{cite web |url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000700-000783.pdf#64 |title=Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Bin Attash, Hassan Mohammed Ali (released September 2007) |date=9 November 2004 |pages=64–65 |author=OARDEC |author-link=OARDEC |publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]] |access-date=2007-12-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227131413/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000700-000783.pdf#64 |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}</ref>

== Alleged role in 9/11 attacks ==
In the spring of 1999, [[Osama bin Laden|Bin Laden]] selected four individuals to serve as suicide operatives after discussing what U.S. targets to crash planes into. These operatives were identified as Walid bin Attash, [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]], [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], and [[Abu Bara al-Yemeni]].<ref name=911Commission/> Bin Laden directed Bin Attash to obtain a United States visa so that he could travel to the U.S. and obtain pilot training in order to participate in what Bin Attash termed the "Planes Operation."<ref name=911Commission/> However, in April 1999 al-Mihdhar was unable to obtain a U.S. visa and returned to Afghanistan. Once back in Afghanistan, Bin Attash administered a forty-five day special course in hand-to-hand combat training at an al Qaeda camp in Logar, Afghanistan, in order to help select trainees for the "Planes Operation." al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar (both eventual hijackers of [[American Airlines Flight 77]]) attended this course and would later be selected as "muscle" hijackers in the 9/11 attacks.<ref name="mc.mil">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mc.mil/Portals/0/pdfs/KSM2/KSM%20II%20(Sworn%20Charges).pdf|title=Charge sheet}}</ref>

Still wanting Bin Attash to be involved in the planes operation, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) split the operation into two parts. The first part involved the planned attacks in the US with the second part involving  the hijacking of US-flagged commercial airlines over South East Asia and blowing them up. Bin Attash confirmed this part of the plot and state the intention was to hijack several airlines from various Southeast Asian countries. In December 1999, Bin Attash was trained by KSM in Karachi, Pakistan which involved learning basic English, interpreting and reading airline timetables/flight schedules, making travel arrangements, watching movies that featured hijackings, using flight simulator games and learning how to case flights.<ref name=911Commission/> Near the end of December 1999, KSM directed Bin Attash to conduct a casing mission in support of the Planes Operation. Bin Attash was given a razor knife to assess airline security and carried this razor knife on flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bangkok, Thailand, and Hong Kong, China. On these flights, Bin Attash collected information on United States air carriers, such as the number of passengers on the flights that were in first class, business class, and economy class.<ref name=mc.mil/> During a January 1, 2000 flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong, Bin Attash flew aboard a U.S. airliner and tested security by carrying his razor onto the plane in his toiletries kit and realized that sitting in first class on that flight did not offer a good view of the cockpit.<ref name="9-11commission.gov">{{Cite web|url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf|title=9/11 Report|publisher=9-11 Commission}}</ref>

Bin Attash traveled to Kuala Lumpur where he met with al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar and discussed the surveillance obtained while casing flights, which included the security on the flights, secreting the razor knife on board the aircraft, and other flight information for use in the "Planes Operation."<ref name="mc.mil"/> During this time Bin Attash was aware that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were involved in an operation involving planes in the U.S. but denied knowing details of the plan.<ref name="9-11commission.gov"/> Upon his return to Karachi, Pakistan, Bin Attash prepared a written report and briefed KSM and Mohammed Atef (the military commander of al-Qaeda) on airline security and his ability to get the razor knife on board the flights.<ref name="mc.mil"/> Bin Laden would cancel the East Asia portion of the plot in the spring of 2000 as he thought it would be too difficult to coordinate this part of the plan along with the operation in the U.S.<ref name="9-11commission.gov"/> Bin Attash would later provide future hijacker [[Hani Hanjour]] with an email address in order to contact al-Hazmi in the United States sometime in December 2000.<ref name="mc.mil"/>

==Capture, tribunal==
Attash was captured together with [[Ali Abdul Aziz Ali (Guantanamo captive 10018)|Ali Abdul Aziz Ali]] in [[Karachi]], on 29 April 2003.<ref name=AsiaTimes20030521>
{{cite news
| title=Bomb jitters in Pakistan, too
| author=B Raman
| author-link=B Raman
| url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE21Df01.html
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030618121400/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE21Df01.html
| url-status=unfit
| archive-date=June 18, 2003
| date=May 21, 2003
| publisher=[[Asia Times]]
| access-date=2007-07-09
}}</ref><ref name="time">Shannon, Elaine. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20030504070328/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,448922,00.html Al-Qaeda Moneyman Caught], May 1, 2003</ref><ref name=LAConfession>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cole20mar20,0,2027317.story?coll=la-home-headlines
|title=Detainee confesses in Cole bombing|access-date={{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY2}} |work=Los Angeles Times |last=Meyer |first=Josh |date=March 20, 2007}}</ref>

He was sent to [[The Dark Prison]], and his brother was moved to [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]]s in 2003 or 2004. While there, he was interrogated under harsh circumstances and confessed that [[Abderraouf Jdey]] had been known to him.<ref>Intelligence report, interrogation of Khallad (Walid bin Attash), May 21, 2004</ref> Despite having only one leg, he was forced to stand in [[stress positions]], "an acutely difficult technique for him" as the Americans took away his false leg, forcing him to balance awkwardly on one foot until losing his balance and ripping at the tendons in his arms.<ref name="mayer">[[Jane Mayer|Mayer, Jane]], "[[The Dark Side (book)|The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals]]", 2008. p. 169</ref>

He was transferred to Guantanamo on 6 September 2006, together with 13 other "high-level detainees" the CIA had been holding in secret detention. He was given victim status in Poland for his alleged [[torture]] by Americans in a [[CIA]] black site on Polish soil.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/feb/06/poland-may-seek-access-to-guantanamo-suspects/ |title=Poland may seek access to Guantanamo suspects - Las Vegas Sun News |access-date=2014-02-08 |archive-date=2014-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221202631/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/feb/06/poland-may-seek-access-to-guantanamo-suspects/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Combatant Status Review Tribunal==
{{wikisource|CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for Walid bin Attash}}
Having been brought to Guantanamo from [[black sites]], the new prisoners were accorded a new series of [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]]s, to determine whether the captives met the new definition of an "[[enemy combatant]]". They had been instituted in 2004 to mitigate the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]'s findings that the holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was unconstitutional.

[[File:Trailer where CSR Tribunals were held.jpg|thumb|[[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]]s were held in a 3×5 trailer where the captive sat with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.<ref name="Nytimes041109">Lewis, Neil. [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/national/08gitmo.html?ex=1257570000&en=4af06725bdf5c086&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court], ''[[New York Times]]'', November 11, 2004 - [http://cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=3838 mirror] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184542/http://cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=3838|date=2007-09-30}}</ref><ref name=FinancialTimes041211>[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/news/ft-12-11-04a.htm Inside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals"], ''[[Financial Times]]'', December 11, 2004</ref>  Unlike the 2004 CSR Tribunals the Press was not allowed to attend the 2007 Tribunals.]]

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the alleged facts that led to his detainment. These included that [[Mohammad Rashed Daoud al-Owhali]] had stated that Attash had told him to prepare for a suicide carbombing against East African embassies of the United States a month or two before the attacks occurred. The memo alleged that Attash had trained in [[Close combat|close-combat]] in the [[Lowgar training camp]] and seen [[Osama bin Laden]] give a speech to graduates of the camp. The memo also alleged that Attash used a Yemeni merchant's registration card that had been forged by "a suspect of the USS ''Cole'' bombing". An unnamed participant in the ''Cole'' bombing also confessed to being given a letter written by Attash which asked for his assistance with the bombing, and was the only reason he aided the bombers.

It also said  that authorities knew of an al-Qaeda cell dubbed "''Father of the Leg''" that revolved around a senior member, and believed this was a reference to Attash due to his missing limb.

It also stated that a contact stored in the phone belonging to Attash was also listed as a contact  in a notebook belonging to "a senior al Qaida operative", and that his University ID card had been found "at an alleged al Qaida residence" in Karachi. He was also "implicated" by a notebook found during a raid, which listed payments made to various al-Qaeda members. An unnamed source also claimed to have seen him at al Farouq training camp.

Bin Attash attended his Tribunal.<ref name=CsrtTranscriptIsn10014>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/news/transcript_ISN10014.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228040259/http://www.defense.gov/news/transcript_ISN10014.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 28, 2010|title=Verbatim Transcript of Open Session Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing for ISN 10014|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]]|date=2007-03-12|author=OARDEC|author-link=OARDEC|access-date=2010-04-13}}</ref> A week after the March 12, 2007, tribunal, Attash was reported to have confessed to his role in preparing both the ''Cole'' and Embassy attacks.<ref name="nyt">Liptak, Adam. ''[[New York Times]]'', [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/world/20colecnd.html?hp Detainee Said to Confess Role in Cole Bombing], March 19, 2007</ref> He confessed purchasing the explosives and small boat used in the ''Cole'' bombing, as well as recruiting the perpetrators, and planning the operation 18 months before the actual attack; he stated that he was in [[Kandahar, Afghanistan]] with bin Laden at the time of the ''Cole'' attack, and in Karachi at the time of the simultaneous embassy bombings meeting with the mastermind of the attack. The DoD was later to publish a ten-page transcript from the unclassified portion of the Tribunal:

{{blockquote|I was the link between Usama bin Laden and his deputy Sheikh [[Abu Hafs al-Masri]] and the cell chief in Nairobi. I was the link that was available in Pakistan. I used to supply the cell with whatever documents they need from fake stamps to visas, whatever.}}

His [[Personal Representative (CSRT)|Personal Representative]] met with him on February 13, and told the tribunal that Attash confirmed that many of the allegations were basically correct, but that he had never owned a telephone and that he had forged the Yemeni registration card himself.

==Military trial==
The [[United States Department of Defense|US Department of Defense]] announced on 9 August 2007, that all fourteen of the "high-value detainees" who had been transferred to Guantanamo from the CIA's [[black site]]s, had been officially classified as "enemy combatants".<ref name=Time20070809>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1651680,00.html |title=Pentagon: 14 Guantanamo Suspects Are Now Combatants |date=August 9, 2007 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |author=Lolita C. Baldur |author-link=Lolita C. Baldur |access-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019144816/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1651680,00.html |url-status=dead}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20201104104008/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20070324/ai_n18757735 mirror]</ref> Although judges [[Peter Brownback]] and [[Keith J. Allred]] had ruled two months earlier that only "''illegal'' enemy combatants" could face military commissions, the Department of Defense waived the qualifier and said that all fourteen men could now face charges before [[Guantanamo military commission]]s.<ref name=DoDKhadrChargesDismissed20070604>{{cite news |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46281 |title=Charges Dismissed Against Canadian at Guantanamo |author=Sergeant Sara Wood |author-link=Sara Wood (military writer) |publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] |date=June 4, 2007 |access-date=2007-06-07}}</ref><ref name=DoDHamdanChargesDismissed20070604>{{cite news |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46288 |title=Judge Dismisses Charges Against Second Guantanamo Detainee |author=Sergeant |author-link=Sergeant |publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] |date=June 4, 2007 |access-date=2007-06-07}}</ref>

Bin Attash, [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]], [[Ammar al Baluchi]] chose to serve as their own attorney.<ref name=MiamiHerald20081012>{{cite news |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/723593.html |title=Al Qaeda defendants get laptops at Guantánamo, judge rules |work=[[Miami Herald]] |author=Carol Rosenberg |author-link=Carol Rosenberg |date=2008-10-12 |access-date=2008-10-12 |quote=Mohammed, his nephew Ammar al-Baluchi and Walid bin Attash have sought through standby counsel filings at the Military Commission a long list of resources they say they need to mount their defense -- including Internet links to read news accounts and do live research on databases. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204115106/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/723593.html |archive-date=2008-12-04}}</ref> They requested laptops, and internet access, in order to prepare their defenses. In October 2008, [[Ralph Kohlmann]] ruled that they be provided with the computers, but not the internet access.

On 8 December 2008, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told the judge that he and the other four indictees wished to confess and plead guilty; however, the plea would be delayed until after [[competency evaluation (law)|mental competency hearings]] for Hawsawi and bin al-Shibh. Mohammed said, "We want everyone to plead together."<ref>{{cite news |title=Top 9/11 suspects to plead guilty |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7770856.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=December 8, 2008 |access-date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref>

On 17 May 2010, [[Saba News Agency]] reported that Walid bin Attash, and four other Yemenis would face charges in the summer of 2010.<ref name=SabaNews-2010-05-17>{{cite news |url=http://www.sabanews.net/en/news214477.htm |title=U.S. to try five Yemeni Gitmo detainees |publisher=[[Saba News]] |date=2010-05-17 |access-date=2010-05-17 |quote=The U.S. will start in this summer trying five Yemeni detainees at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay in Cuba including Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Walid bin Attash and Abdul Rahim Al-Nasheri, the September 26 website has reported. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518181034/http://www.sabanews.net/en/news214477.htm |archive-date=2010-05-18}}</ref> Two of the other Yemenis Saba News reported would face charges were: [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] and [[Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri]].

On 31 May 2011, the Department of Defense announced that capital charges have been re-filed against Bin 'Attash and four other alleged co-conspirators for their alleged roles in the September 11th, 2001 attacks. The charges include: conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking aircraft and terrorism.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/03/world/meast/khalid-sheikh-mohammed-fast-facts/index.html |title=Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Fast Facts |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=3 February 2013}}</ref> As of December 2022, the case is still in the pretrial phase after years of delays. Reporting in late 2022 indicated that the Biden administration was weighing a possible plea deal with Bin 'Attash and the four other suspected terrorists' Military Commission Trial.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-09 |title=9/11 trial delayed again as Biden administration pushes for plea deal with terrorists |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/2023-kicks-off-911-gitmo-hearings-delayed-again |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Washington Examiner |language=en}}</ref> On 31 July 2024, Attash agreed to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> however it was revoked by Defense Secretary [[Lloyd Austin]] two days later.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/austin-revokes-plea-deal-alleged-911-mastermind-khalid/story?id=112529708|title=Austin revokes plea deal for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 2 others|first=Luis|last=Martinez |date=August 2, 2024|publisher=ABC News}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/08/04/new-evidence-about-prisoners-held-in-secret-cia-prisons-in-poland-and-romania/ New Evidence About Prisoners Held in Secret CIA Prisons in Poland and Romania] Andy Worthington

{{CIAPrisons}}
{{9-11 hijackers}}
{{HighValue}}
{{GitmoCharges}}
{{Controversies surrounding people captured during the War on Terror}}
{{Al-Qaeda}}

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[[Category:Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian amputees]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States]]
[[Category:People associated with the September 11 attacks]]
[[Category:Detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian expatriates in Pakistan]]
[[Category:1978 births]]
[[Category:People charged with murder]]
[[Category:People indicted for war crimes]]