9/11 mom: Grant self-proclaimed plotter death wish

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedi...,5844389.story

BY LAURA RIVERA
June 6, 2008

It may be the only point on which Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son Christian was killed in the World Trade Center, agrees with the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Though Regenhard is generally opposed to the death penalty, she said it may be justified in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

"If he's guilty," said Regenhard, of the Bronx, "a lot of 9/11 family members would be happy to see him get what he wants.

"He should definitely meet his maker, be that the devil or be that something else," said Regenhard, a member of 9/11 Parents & Families of Firefighters.

The accused al-Qaida operative's comments yesterday during his arraignment in Cuba that he hopes for a death sentence were part of what many see as his desire for martyrdom.

Relatives of the victims of the defendant's alleged handiwork were notably absent from the proceedings in Cuba. They were given no option to view or attend the hearings.

"That was a mistake," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the chief legal adviser for the military commissions. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen again."

Carol Ashley, whose daughter Janice died on the 93rd floor of Tower One, said Mohammed's quest for martyrdom is precisely what should be denied to him and the four other defendants arraigned at the U.S. military prison yesterday.

"Making them martyrs by executing them would further inflame radical jihadists," said Ashley, of Rockville Centre. "I would like to deny them that. I would rather see them sit in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives."

This story was supplemented with a Washington Post report.