NEW YORK - An Obama administration official says the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, will be tried in a civilian court in New York, along with four co-defendants.

The official said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will announce the decision Friday.

Speaking in Tokyo, U.S. President Barack Obama did not want to elaborate on the upcoming announcement but stressed that Mohammad “will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice.”

Mohammed and his co-defendents had been facing charges before a U.S. military commission set up at the military facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the suspects have been held.

Shortly after taking office in January, Mr. Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo within a year, but the administration appears likely to miss that deadline.

Source:  VOA News