This undated photo taken by the International Red Cross and released by lawyer Walter Ruiz, shows his client Mustafa al Hawsawi posing for a portrait while he's a detainee at the Guantanamo U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo, Cuba. On Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, an FBI agent has started describing the case against Mustafa al Hawsawi, a Saudi citizen accused in the Sept. 11 attack, for the first time since he was arraigned on capital charges at the Guantanamo Bay detention center more than six years ago. (Mustafa al-Hawsawi via AP)
December 06, 2017 - 12:36 PM
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A retired FBI agent has testified that a Saudi held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre admitted to helping seven of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks buy plane tickets and transfer money.
Retired special agent Abigail Perkins led the interrogation of Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi over four days at the U.S. base in Cuba in January 2004.
Al-Hawsawi is now facing trial by military commission for his role in the attacks. Perkins was called to testify in a pretrial hearing Wednesday to rebut a defence claim that al-Hawsawi doesn't meet criteria to be charged with war crimes before the commission.
She said the 49-year-old Saudi willingly told investigators of his role and was pleased with the outcome. No trial date has been set for al-Hawsawi and four co-defendants.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017