Now he’s being held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Case details
Born 8 September, 1959 in Pakistan. Aged 13 is recruited to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Taliban
Admitted to US military commissions in 2008, as an “enemy combatant”
Nationality (origin): Pakistani
Born in Quetta, in southwestern Pakistan, to a wealthy businessman
Specialised in combat arts
Beaten by seven Guantánamo torture officers
Guantánamo prison officials confused Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with his brother
He was sent to the main prison in December 2004 by British lawyers
Convicted last July
Allegations
11 September 2001 “murder of Americans at the US consulate in Karachi” in Karachi, Pakistan; a September 2002 “murder of British security officer Christopher Dawson” in Afghanistan
Specialist in combat arts, hand-to-hand combat, use of improvised explosives, weapons
Drained and “vodka-soaked” the heart of the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; “made furniture from blood”
Mastermind of the September 11 attacks
Personality
Free-spirited, naive; was influenced by Christian, Hindu and Islamic philosophers
Poles ‘warned’ of plot
Referral
According to testimonies by militant network members, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (known as KSM) and several of the cell leaders, a group of four or five West Bank Palestinians called Mohammed Nasheed was asked by al-Qaida in 2001 if they were able to help the attacks on the United States. They were provided with cash and equipment, including Kalashnikovs and pistols, and sent to Afghanistan to train in explosive use. After the attacks, the Egyptians Anwar al-Awlaki and Nasser al-Wuhayshi brought the weapons back to Egypt, returning to the West Bank as soon as KSM was captured and first interrogated in Pakistan. They promised the Palestinians protection from prosecution
Mum
Mother Fatima Abedin, says her son was sent to detention camp because he was underage
Turned on his family by father’s decision to travel to Afghanistan and join the Taliban
Changed during his stay in Bagram prison
Career
Knows as prisoner of war and as an “enemy combatant” in US court. He was previously a dentist, graduated from university and formed a business association
Participation
Described by one former interrogator as “a brilliant listener”
Regular reader of The Reader
Believed to be close to Sheikh Hassan al-Muhajir
Possessed of an “intellectual curiosity”
Family and friends
KSM’s wife, Subhransui, and his seven children were deported from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia. His brother, Shahman, was convicted in a US court and received a life sentence for his role in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa
Alcoholism
Prior to his release on parole in 2012, KSM was able to drink up to a cup of tea per day
Criminal record
Police refused to let KSM attend a church service, allegedly stating: “If he does not come back a reformed man then it is best if he is separated from us all.”
Lawyers
Allegedly had a $100,000 contract with Gitmo and was advised to plead guilty to murder and conspiracy in return for a limited release at another camp
Was represented by Larry Klayman, founder of group Freedom Watch. In return for publicising KSM’s case on the website of a news website, Klayman got a letter congratulating him for the recent assassination of Saddam Hussein
Funerals
7 September 2002 “body pulled” from suitcase filled with explosives on a US Airways flight from the US to Paris, France; attended by al-Qaida cell members and close associates
10 June 2002 “ship of several bodies” taken ashore near Waziristan, Pakistan
12 June 2002 “a body” taken ashore near Shangu, Pakistan
16 December 2002 “body pulled” from a villa in Kabul