NEW YORK (JTA) — The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and his co-defendants say they want to plead guilty to terror charges.
Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other defendants said in a letter Monday that they want to dismiss their war-crimes tribunal-appointed attorneys and confess to their involvement in planning the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Later Monday, during a pretrial hearing, three of the defendants postponed entering their pleas until the other two are declared mentally competent following concerns by one of the military judges. Mohammed told reporters that the men want to plead together in the case, which could result in the death penalty.
Mohammed has previously told investigators that he masterminded the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed 2,972 people.
The men were charged in the case in June. No trial date has been set.
