Military judge schedules trial for alleged 9/11 mastermind

Aug. 27 (UPI) — A military judge has scheduled the start of the long-awaited trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man accused of being the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Military Judge Lt. Col. Michael Schrama issued a trial schedule order on Wednesday detailing upcoming important dates, setting June 5, 2028, as the start of the trial.

The start date is nearly 17 months later than the prosecution had requested.

In his order, Schrama said the Jan. 11, 2027, date the prosecution wanted was “incompatible” with pretrial litigation, stating “a realistic trial date must account for the hearing and resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.”

Mohammed is being tried alongside three other men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks that destroyed the twin towers of New York City’s World Trade Center, killing 2,753 people and ushering in two decades to U.S.-led wars and military operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The suspects have been charged with a slew of offenses, including conspiracy, hijacking or hazarding an aircraft and murder.

Mohammed has been in U.S. custody since his arrest in Pakistan in 2003, and has been detained at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006. Mohammed and his co-defendants are among the remaining few being held at the detention camp.