US President Barack Obama, defending plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civilian court, predicted the accused 11 September author would be convicted and executed.

And US Attorney General Eric Holder assured lawmakers that prosecutors know "failure is not an option" and that Sheikh Mohammed would not be freed even if acquitted by a jury in New York, a city still scarred by the 2001 attacks.

Obama, speaking to NBC television during a trip to Asia, said that anger and security worries over the planned civilian trial would fall away "when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him."

In a separate exchange with CNN, Obama, who insisted he was not prejudging the case, scoffed at the idea "that these terrorists possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and exacting swift justice."

Guantanamo deadline won't be met

The US president also explicitly acknowledged for the first time that he will not meet the 22 January 2010 deadline he decreed on his second day in office for closing the prison at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"I'm not disappointed. I knew this was going to be hard," he told Fox News, adding that he expected a continued political fight over the prison.

"We are on a path and a process where I would anticipate that Guantanamo will be closed next year. I'm not going to set an exact date, because a lot of this was also going to depend on cooperation from Congress," he said.

Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he hoped the administration hoped to overcome "the biggest problem" by finding destinations this year for detainees cleared for release.

After Obama's deadline admission, London-based rights group Amnesty International urged Washington to "redouble efforts" to shutter Guantanamo.

"Now, as should have been the case from day one, the government should resolve these detentions by either bringing the detainees to fair trial or immediately releasing them," said Susan Lee, head of Amnesty's Americas programme.

'Failure is not an option'

With angry relatives of some 11 September victims looking on, Holder defended his decision to try Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-plotters in New York.

"Failure is not an option. These are cases that have to be won. I don't expect that we will have a contrary result," said Holder. "We need not cower in the face of this enemy."

Critics have warned that civilian trials will give the accused more rights and that Holder is setting a precedent that could hamper how the US military gets intelligence from suspected terrorists captured overseas.

"I believe this decision is dangerous. I believe it's misguided. I believe it is unnecessary," said Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the committee. "The correct way to try him is by military tribunal."

The five men face trial at a courthouse just blocks from Ground Zero, where thousands lost their lives after Al-Qaeda extremists flew hijacked airliners into the two World Trade Center towers.

Wearing badges bearing the name and photograph of their slain loved one, some 9/11 relatives denounced Holder's decision outside the hearing room.

"This decision is not thoughtless, because a lot of thought went into it, but it is mindless," said David Beamer, whose son Todd is hailed as a hero for battling the hijackers aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

"To put us through this again is unconscionable," said Geraldine Davie, whose daughter Amy O'Doherty (23) was killed in the attack on the Twin Towers.

Holder rejected some key objections to his decision, denying that a civilian trial would pose a security risk, reveal secret US information, or give Sheikh Mohammed a platform to preach extreme anti-US messages.

"I'm not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has to say at trial, and no one else needs to be afraid either," he said.

Holder also defended his move to use civilian courts for 11 September suspects even as he pursues military tribunals for some suspects in the October 2000 bombing attack on the USS Cole off the Yemeni coast.

"By bringing prosecutions in both our courts and military commissions, by seeking the death penalty, by holding these terrorists responsible for their actions, we are finally taking ultimate steps towards justice. That is why I made this decision," he said.

AFP

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