U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, will be tried in a federal civilian court in New York.
Four others accused in the attacks will also be tried in New York.
Holder said he expects to direct prosecutors to seek the death penalty for each of the alleged conspirators.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Mohammad “will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice.”
Mohammed and his co-defendants had been facing charges before a U.S. military commission set up at the U.S. military facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they are being held.
Holder announced that five other Guantanamo detainees will be tried before a military commission. They include Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of planning the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen in 2000.
Shortly after taking office in January, Mr. Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo within a year, but it is unclear if the administration will meet that deadline.
‘Some information for this report was provided by AP.’