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9/11 KIN MEETING WITH
PREZ ON GITMO
New York Post
Posted: 2:04 am
February 6, 2009
President Obama, under fire for suspending trials of suspected
terrorists and for phasing out the Guantanamo prison in Cuba, has
invited relatives of 9/11 victim's to the White House for a meeting
today.
Family members, who will attend a 3:30 p.m. get-together in the
Roosevelt Room, told The Post they hope to urge the president to
swiftly prosecute the suspects, including those who bragged of plotting
to blow up the World Trade Center.
Retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches - whose firefighter son, Jimmy,
died at Ground Zero - was ticked off by Obama's Gitmo decision. Riches
last month visited Gitmo and attended the trial of Khalid Sheik
Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 plotters, who stood up and admitted
their guilt.
"We saw these people face to face," he said. "I want to tell the
president what happened at Gitmo - that these detainees were laughing
about what they did. I wish these trials were on TV. Americans would be
outraged.
"I don't want what happened to my son to happen to anyone else.
"Let's bring these guys to trial. Eight years is long enough. I want
them tried, convicted and, if they killed my son, I want the death
penalty."
Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the pilot of hijacked
American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, was eager
to hear from the president.
"I'm hoping it's a substantive meeting," she said.
The White House has also invited relatives of victims of the terror
attack on the USS Cole to attend.
Long Island Rep. Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House
Homeland Security Committee, commended the White House for its
outreach.
"The fact that he's meeting with the 9/11 families is a positive
thing," he said. "He realizes that this is complicated and there are
legitimate emotions involved."
King opposes Obama's call to close Gitmo and the president's order to
ban controversial interrogation practices, such as water boarding.
Obama vowed during the presidential campaign to close Gitmo,
complaining that some detainees were tortured - violating US ideals and
giving the country a black eye in world opinion. He said America
can both prosecute war criminals and uphold human rights.
Meanwhile, the judge overseeing terror trials at Gitmo dropped charges
yesterday against a suspect in the bombing of the Cole who's being held
there. Abd al Rahim al Nashiri is the alleged mastermind of the
2000 attack. He claims he confessed only after being tortured.
The move brings the base into compliance with Obama's request for a
90-day delay in legal proceedings.
The Saudi national will remain at Gitmo, and could be re-charged at a
later date, officials said. Seventeen US sailors died on the Cole when
al Qaeda suicide bombers steered an explosives-laden boat into the
destroyer, which was at anchor in a Yemen port.