Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, 9/11 mastermind, accuses US of torture
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a suspected terrorist, is shown in this photo released by the FBI October 10, 2001 in Washington, D.C.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the 9/11 terror attacks, lashed out against the United States during a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Wednesday.
Mohammed, whose trial is not expected to begin until the summer of 2013, accused the US of torture.
"Many can kill people under the name of national security, and torture people under the name of national security, and detain their children under the name of national security," Mohammed said in court, CNN reported.
"The president can take someone and throw him in the sea in the name of national security," he continued, the Huffington Post reported. "And so well he can also legislate the killings, assassinations, under the name of national security, for American citizens. My only advice to you that you do not get affected by the crocodile tears. Because your blood is not made of gold and ours made of water. We are all human beings. Thank you."
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He also told his military judge and prosecutor that Americans had killed "millions" compared with the nearly 3,000 victims of the 2001 attacks, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The accused's remarks follow a controversial request by the prosecution to censor information about the CIA's rendition and interrogation of the defendants, which the ACLU is fighting to strike down, the Washington Post reported.
“The government label of classified information does not turn third-party knowledge, experience and memories into something the government can suppress,” argued Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the Post.
The other four defendants in the case are alleged plot cell manager Ramzi Binalshibh; Walid bin Attash, an alleged steward of an Al Qaeda training camp; and Ammar al Baluchi and Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi, alleged Al Qaeda backers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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