Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect behind the September 11, 2001 attacks—the deadliest assault on US soil—has dedicated his life to conspiring against the West. Known as one of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s most trusted and intelligent lieutenants, Mohammed, also referred to as “KSM,” was apprehended in Pakistan in March 2003.
Following his capture, Mohammed spent three years in secret CIA prisons before being transferred in 2006 to the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nearly 20 years later, he and two accomplices have reportedly reached a deal with prosecutors, which will see them avoid a death penalty trial, according to a Pentagon announcement on Wednesday.
Al-Qaeda’s chosen one
Biographers say Mohammed, often called “mukhtar” (the chosen one) or “the brain” in extremist circles, was also mocked as “KFC” for his love of fried chicken. Described as an “arrogant,” “very proud” man of small stature, Mohammed had a reputation for being short-tempered.
Now around 60 years old, the trained engineer was involved in a series of significant plots against the United States, where he attended university and earned an engineering degree. His most devastating plot was the 9/11 operation, which resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths after hijacked planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a field in Pennsylvania.
Mohammed claims to have participated in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people, and to have personally beheaded US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
Born in the mid-1960s to a Pakistani family living in Kuwait, Mohammed’s roots trace back to Baluchistan, a turbulent Pakistani region bordering Afghanistan. He asserts that he joined the Muslim Brotherhood, an anti-Zionist activist group, at the age of 16, igniting a lifelong obsession with violent jihad.
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Mohammed’s move to The States
In 1983, Mohammed moved to the United States for his studies, staying with a “small group” of Arabs from Kuwait, according to biographer Richard Miniter. A US intelligence summary noted, “KSM’s limited and negative experience in the United States—which included a brief jail stay because of unpaid bills—almost certainly helped propel him on his path to becoming a terrorist.”
By 1987, he had traveled to Afghanistan to fight alongside mujahedeen rebels against the Soviet invasion. He remained there until 1992, before heading to Bosnia and Herzegovina to fight with Muslim fighters against the Serbs, as per the 9/11 Commission report.
Mohammed gained notoriety following a failed 1995 plot to blow up US airliners over the Pacific, known as Operation Bojinka. He had earlier helped finance the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, orchestrated by his nephew Ramzi Youssef, which killed six people and injured over 1,000 others.
Involvement in Al-Qaeda plots
Although Mohammed fought alongside Bin Laden in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, their close relationship didn’t develop until a decade later, when Mohammed began planning what would become the September 11, 2001 attacks. “Bin Laden realized that this difficult little man was absolutely essential for turning AQ into the kind of organization he wanted,” Miniter said.
Mohammed was involved in nearly every Al-Qaeda plot until his arrest. However, experts suggest it is unlikely that one man could have been at the center of all these terror plans. “He’s obviously a smart guy, but he’s not a genius… He didn’t do the impossible,” said Terry McDermott, co-author of “The Hunt for KSM.”
Much of what is known about Mohammed comes from interrogation transcripts released by the Pentagon. He was waterboarded 183 times during his years in US custody, a technique rights groups condemn as torture. This practice led to years of delays in his trial due to legal maneuvering.
In reported confessions, Mohammed claimed to be the “military operational commander” for all Al-Qaeda foreign operations, stating, “I’m not making myself a hero.” During a hearing at Guantanamo in June 2008, the first time he appeared in public since his arrest, he declared, “I’m looking to be a martyr for a long time.”
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