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Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Set for June 2028 Trial at Guantanamo
On Wednesday, a U.S. Air Force judge scheduled trial for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the self-proclaimed "mastermind" of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, to begin on June 5, 2028.
Mohammad, a former Al-Qaeda official, was captured in 2003 after an 18-month search in Pakistan and has been detained at Guantanamo Bay since, marking decades of pre-trial delays.
Military court documents show the judge rejected a proposed January 11, 2027 trial date, citing the complexity of proceedings after decades of delays in the high-stakes case.
The Pentagon and FBI advised families of victims that plea agreement negotiations are under consideration, which could potentially remove death-penalty exposure for the accused.
This trial scheduling arrives on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, nearly 25 years after Sept. 11, 2001, marking a potential resolution to the protracted case.
The decision was taken by military judge Michael Schrama, after his rejection of the date proposed by the Prosecutor's Office in January 2027. Khalid Sheij Mohamed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and four years later admitted, during an interrogation, to having planned the attacks in which nearly 3,000 people died.