"OK by me," Mohammed answered.
Mohammed is one of 14 so-called high-value detainees who were moved to Guantanamo Bay, and one of the first three to face a military tribunal.
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9/11 Planner Confesses To Many Plots
He compares Al Qaeda operatives to American revolutionaries in his tribunal testimony.
He Says He Was Tortured
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday March 17, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 43 words Type of Material: Correction
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed: An article in Thursday's Section A described accused terrorist Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as a Kuwaiti national. Mohammed was born in Kuwait to Pakistani parents, and was raised and educated there. Kuwaiti officials have said he does not have Kuwaiti citizenship.
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The Pentagon also released transcripts of the two other hearings, including that of accused Sept. 11 conspirator Ramzi Binalshibh, who was captured in Pakistan months before Mohammed. But neither of the other two agreed to attend their hearings, and the transcripts are largely devoid of much in the way of information beyond procedural matters.
According to Binalshibh's hearing transcript, his personal representative tried four times in February and March to read him the unclassified version of evidence that was being used to detain him, but in all four instances he refused to leave his cell.
The other detainee, Abu Faraj Libbi, another alleged Al Qaeda leader and an associate of Mohammed's, submitted a statement in which he said he was refusing to participate because he was not allowed to have a lawyer and was being denied a formal court hearing.
In Mohammed's hearing, the Al Qaeda operative gave no details about his claims that he was tortured by U.S. agents.
The charges of mistreatment were raised by the Navy captain overseeing the proceeding. The captain said the charges were in written statements that Mohammed gave the tribunal and would be part of the hearing record.
Mohammed accused the U.S. of arresting and abusing his children. He also charged U.S. officials of intentionally targeting and killing the children of Bin Laden and Zawahiri.
In making the accusation, Mohammed claimed it was the U.S. that did not respect human rights, arguing that Al Qaeda always targeted legitimate facilities related to U.S. economic and military might.
"When we target in USA, we chose them military target, economical and political," he said. "Now American, they know [Bin Laden], he is in this house. They don't care about his kids ... they will just bombard it. They will kill all of them, and they did it."
peter.spiegel@latimes.com
Times staff writers Josh Meyer and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this report.
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`I was responsible'
The following is an excerpt from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's statement before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay:
