9/11 ‘mastermind’ Khalid Sheikh Mohammed charged, After Being Waterboarded Almost 200 Times

“The charges allege that the five accused are responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and Washington DC, and Shanksville, Pa., resulting in the killing of 2,976 people,” the Defense Department said in a statement.

“The convening authority referred the case to a capital military commission, meaning that, if convicted, the five accused could be sentenced to death.”

Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, known as KSM, along with Walid bin Attash of Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Pakistan’s Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali – also known as Ammar al-Baluchi – and Mustafa al-Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia will appear in court for arraignment proceedings within 30 days.

The trial, which could be months away, will be held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the US government has set up military commissions to try terror suspects.

KSM was dragged from his hideout in Pakistan nine years ago. He was interrogated in prisons around the world for three years by CIA officers, which included 183 episodes of waterboarding.