US officials scrutinize terrorist's claims

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and imagined attacks in the past 15 years relies on a loose definition of the word "responsible." Officials say the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was crucial to some plots but a bit player in others.

The 31 on his list range from the stunningly vicious suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, to others that current and former government officials say were more talk than concrete plans, such as a plot to kill Jimmy Carter and other former US presidents.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, noting Mohammed's activities are likely to be the subject of a military tribunal.

His confession, his first public statement since his March 2003 capture, came in a secret hearing in the newly established US tribunal process. A 26-page transcript of the Saturday session at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was made public on Wednesday night.

While there apparently is truth in much of the statement, several officials said, there's also an element of self-promotion. They view the claims as at least in part a rallying cry to bolster his image and that of al-Qaeda in the only venue Mohammed has left -- a military courtroom from which the public is barred.

"I have never known a criminal -- either terrorist or otherwise -- that didn't exaggerate," said former FBI agent and Representative Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the terrorism panel of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said authorities would decide the credibility of Mohammed's claims if he is tried.

"These are his words," Whitman said.

The US linked Mohammed closely to the Sept. 11 attacks, and his statement said he was responsible "from A to Z." He also corroborated al-Qaeda's known interest in attacking various embassies, London's Heathrow Airport, the New York Stock Exchange and other targets.

His role in some plots, however, may be more minor than his hands-on involvement in coordinating the attacks of Sept. 11 -- evidence of which was found on his computer when he was captured. Some of the plots were formulated in al-Qaeda's early years, when alliances among Islamic extremists were even more fluid than they are today.

"If you look at him having a senior position in al-Qaeda, when he says he's responsible, it can be interpreted in a lot of different ways," said Ben Venzke, head of the Virginia-based IntelCenter, a government contractor that monitors al-Qaeda messaging.

A CIA official declined to analyze Mohammed's statements.

One official cautioned that many of Mohammed's claims during interrogation were "white noise" -- designed to send the US on wild goose chases or to get him through the day's interrogation session.

In the Department of Defense transcript, Mohammed said his statement was not made under duress. But Mohammed and human-rights advocates have previously alleged that he was tortured, and legal experts said that could taint his statements.

"In light of the rambling nature of his statements, and the views of some that he is prone to exaggerate his importance, we cannot feel confident we know exactly the level of his involvement in various prior attacks," said Joshua Dressler, a criminal law expert at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.

The CIA has denied it has used torture.

"The agency's terrorist interrogation program has been conducted lawfully, with great care and close review, producing vital information that has helped disrupt plots and save lives," spokesman Paul Gimigliano said.