KSM Trial puts Obama under pressure

World
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_498751.html
Mar 6, 2010
Obama under pressure

The Washington Post reported Friday that White House aides would recommend that Obama make a U-turn and accept a military trial, as part of a deal that could help Mr Obama shut down the military prison in Guantanamo Bay. -- PHOTO: AP

WASHINGTON - THE White House will need weeks to decide on the trial of the Sept 11 plotters, an official said Friday, after its plans for a military tribunal triggered a strong reaction.
President Barack Obama's administration had announced it would try self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accused at a New York courthouse just steps from where the World Trade Center once stood.

But the plan for the 'trial of the century' met a backlash from lawmakers who have introduced legislation to require a military trial, throwing a challenge to Mr Obama months ahead of mid-term elections.
'The White House is continuing to review what the available options are that would bring the 9/11 detainees to justice,' an official said on condition of anonymity.

'No decision has been made, and we do not expect a decision for weeks as the review process is ongoing,' the official said.

The Washington Post reported Friday that White House aides would recommend that Obama make a U-turn and accept a military trial, as part of a deal that could help Mr Obama shut down the military prison in Guantanamo Bay. Mohammed and the other accused are detained at the controversial camp in Cuba as they await trial over the Sept 11, 2001 attacks that killed close to 3,000 people, most in New York. -- AFP