MORE than six years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, US military prosecutors are preparing to file formal charges against six high-ranking Al-Qaeda detainees, among them Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who allegedly confessed to masterminding the plot.

The accused terrorists are all being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. US officials said yesterday that war crime charges could be filed as early as this week, although it may be many months before the cases are ready to go to trial.

The apparent breakthrough in a heavily criticised judicial process would open the door to the first prosecutions of the alleged 9/11 ringleaders since the hijacking of four aircraft resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 people.

The proceedings are certain to inflame worldwide criticism of the US military justice system, including the severely limited legal rights of Guantanamo detainees and the use of torture during interrogations.

Last week General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, confirmed to a congressional hearing that Mohammed, known as KSM, was among those prisoners subjected to “waterboarding”, the simulated drowning technique.

The cases will be tried by military judges with military lawyers representing the defendants. The proceedings will be held in a new high-security courtroom at Guantanamo.

After legal setbacks in its attempts to create a parallel justice system for terrorist suspects, the Pentagon appears to be pressing ahead in the hope of bringing Al-Qaeda leaders to trial before George W Bush leaves office in January 2009.

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