Nephew of 9/11 Mastermind Denies Involvement in the Attacks

Ammar al-Baluchi has been linked to 9/11 financing.

An alleged high-level al-Qaeda operative who is the nephew of the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States told a military tribunal that he had no ties to the plot and is being held because of his family connection, according to a transcript released yesterday.

Ammar al-Baluchi, nephew of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, told a Combatant Status Review Tribunal last month at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that he was a businessman who helped his uncle's affiliates but said he did not know they were part of a terror network. In an unusual witness statement entered at the March 30 tribunal, Mohammed said that Baluchi "has never had association with al-Qaeda, Taliban or associated organizations" and that his nephew "had no knowledge of al-Qaeda links."

The statements, before military officers who will determine if Baluchi is an enemy combatant, conflict with U.S. intelligence reports that link him to financing the Sept. 11 hijackers and to an operation that intended to bomb the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2003. Baluchi was arrested shortly before that attack was to happen.

The detainee, who was held for more than three years in secret CIA custody, admitted that he wired more than $100,000 to hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi in the United States before the terror attacks. But Baluchi said he wired Shehhi's own money to him as a favor.

"I do not belong to al-Qaeda, the Taliban or associated organizations," Baluchi told the three-member military panel. "I refuse to be called or classified as an enemy combatant."

In a short statement to the panel, Baluchi acknowledged helping U.S. intelligence officials track al-Qaeda operations and likened it to the way he believes he was used as a middleman to unwittingly help al-Qaeda.

"Ever since I was turned in to the United States government, about four years ago, the government uses my services by getting information from me about al-Qaeda activities and personnel that I obtained through independent research," Baluchi said. "The United States has benefited from the vital and important information I supplied by foiling al-Qaeda plans and obtaining information on al-Qaeda personnel."

Though Baluchi did not allege mistreatment, his transcript was redacted because Mohammed's letter to the panel included allegations of CIA abuse: "Most of the classified evidence in your possession are confessions that were obtained under torture by the CIA," he wrote.

Earlier, Mohammed made similar allegations in writing. Other detainees have likewise claimed CIA torture in secret prisons around the world, where 14 detainees currently at Guantanamo Bay were held until September. Delays in the release of tribunal transcripts have been for "interagency review" of national security risks, U.S. officials said.

Paul Gimigliano, a CIA spokesman, said the agency has been diligent with the classification reviews and often completes them within 72 hours.

"We have needed more time in a few cases, when a transcript raised significant national security issues, but that extra time was measured in days," Gimigliano said. "We've worked very hard -- and very quickly -- to turn around the transcripts while safeguarding information of continuing use in the fight against terror and the lawful means used to obtain that information."

Also yesterday, Pentagon officials released a tribunal transcript for Riduan bin Isamuddin -- also known as Hambali -- who is accused of being a terrorist mastermind in Southeast Asia and is linked to the Bali nightclub bombing in 2002, which killed approximately 200 people. Hambali is accused of having close links to Osama bin Laden, and intelligence officials have pegged him as the operations chief of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group.

Hambali chose not to speak to the allegations against him other than to say he did not know of the plans that he was alleged to have been involved in, and he frequently declined to answer questions, according to the transcript. He instead presented a lengthy written statement, which was not released.

Staff writer Dafna Linzer and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.