New prison for 9/11 accused

Camp 7 is probably the most secret prison in the world. It is located somewhere on the southeast corner of Cuba inside the US-leased territory of Guantanamo Bay. I say "somewhere" because its precise location is classified top secret. It's part of the Guantanamo detention centre but visitors to Guantanamo, such as journalists like me, are never allowed to see it or go within sniffing distance of it. It houses just 15 detainees, five of whom are the accused 9/11 conspirators - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-confessed mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks, born in Kuwait to Pakistani parents, Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a Saudi, Abi Abd al-Aziz Ali, also known as Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek bin Attash, another Yemeni. They are guarded round the clock by specially trained troops from the Joint Task Force Guantanamo. But Camp 7, housing what the Pentagon considers to be the most dangerous al-Qaeda terrorists in detention, was built more than 15 years ago and it's in a poor condition, perhaps even a security risk. So in its latest defence budget request, for 2019, the Pentagon has allocated $69 million to replace the ramshackle Camp 7 structure with a new maximum-security prison block. It is said the Pentagon wants a building that will last for at least 40 years. Under Obama, of course, Guantanamo Bay, including Camp 7, was supposed to have been shut down, but he was foiled at every attempt. Congress made it clear that none of the Guantanamo detainees could ever be transferred to the US. Lots of countries agreed to take some of the detainees, in return for cash and whatever. So over the years the total inmate strength of around 780 was whittled down to the present 41, 15 of whom are the Camp 7 detainees. But no one wants Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and co, and anyway the US is committed to putting them on trial at the military tribunal courtroom in Guantanamo and to punish them, if convicted, with the death penalty if found to have been responsible for the murder of nearly 3,000 people on 9/11. So, with Trump, and his Justice Secretary, Jeff Sessions, determined to let Guantanamo run and run, I guess Congress, even if they hate Guantanamo, will approve the spending of $69 million to make sure that the five 9/11 alleged co-conspirators NEVER leave the island.