WASHINGTON — US officials are discussing options to move the trial of the alleged 9/11 mastermind out of New York City after mounting pressure from local politicians, an administration official said Friday.
"Conversations have occurred within the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in Lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A group of eight New York lawmakers wrote to US Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday expressing concern about plans to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described chief organizer of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and four other co-accused to Manhattan for trial.
The move would be a blow to the Obama administration's bid to bring the accused plotters to trial in civilian federal court just blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood.
Signatories to the letter included Democratic Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velazquez and the speaker of New York State's assembly, Sheldon Silver.
On Wednesday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, expressed his opposition to the idea, reversing his initial support.
No comments:
Post a Comment