Bush - 9/11 Mastermind Must Stay In Secret Custody
Bush - 9/11 mastermind must stay in secret custody
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050620/...curity_bush_dc
By Tabassum Zakaria Mon Jun 20, 5:48 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Monday defended the U.S. treatment of detainees and said the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks should stay in secret custody because he could provide valuable information to help protect Americans and Europeans.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, regarded by U.S. officials as the brains behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has been held at an undisclosed location since he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.
"And he is being detained because we think he could possibly give us information that might not only protect us, but protect citizens in Europe," Bush said at a press conference after meeting with European Union leaders.
"And at some point in time he will be dealt with, but right now we think it's best that he be kept in custody," Bush said. "We want to learn as much as we can in this new kind of war about the intention, and about the methods, about how these people operate."
While a number of senior al Qaeda members have been captured or killed, the network's leader, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, have evaded a U.S.-led manhunt.
CIA Director Porter Goss told Time magazine that he had an "excellent idea" where bin Laden was hiding, but did not reveal the location. Intelligence experts say the al Qaeda leader is in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We are receiving good cooperation from the government of Pakistan. They are a partner in the global war on terrorism and they have been working with us to go after al Qaeda and Taliban remnants," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Sen. John Rockefeller (news, bio, voting record) of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN that not capturing bin Laden was "something of an embarrassment to the Bush administration" and that he was concerned the administration was trying to distract from problems in Iraq by giving the impression they were about to capture bin Laden.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden and Zawahri have issued taped messages showing they are still alive, and U.S. intelligence agencies determined it was Zawahri's voice on a videotape broadcast by Arabic television Al Jazeera on Friday.
Bush defended the treatment of terrorism suspects being held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and challenged reporters to go and see for themselves.
The administration is facing growing calls to close the Guantanamo Bay prison or define the legal rights of the detainees, many of whom have been held there for more than three years.
The prison has also been roiled by allegations of abusive behavior toward detainees.
Former President Bill Clinton, in an interview with the Financial Times, said Guantanamo Bay "either needs to be closed down or cleaned up."
"Those of us who espouse freedom have an obligation and those who espouse human rights have an obligation to ... live up to those words. And I believe we are in Guantanamo," Bush said.
He said the site is inspected by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the prisoners were treated similar to the requirements under the Geneva Conventions.
