Pentagon official says 9/11 suspect was tortured

Al-Qaeda suspect Mohammed al-Qahtani during his 2006 trial in Sanaa, Yemen. Qahtani -- a Saudi suspected of involvement in the September 11 terror attacks -- was tortured in Guantanamo Bay, the official overseeing trials at the detention site has told the Washington Post

A Pentagon official acknowledged in an interview published Wednesday that the United States tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi man who allegedly had hoped to become the "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We tortured Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, a retired judge who was appointed convening authority of military commissions in February 2007. Crawford was interviewed by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward.

Obama Plans US Terror Trials to Replace Guantanamo

President-elect Obama's advisers are crafting plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and prosecute terrorism suspects in the U.S., a plan the Bush administration said Monday was easier said than done. Under the plan being crafted inside Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and others would be charged in U.S. courts, where they would receive constitutional rights and open trials.