Pentagon: Key 9/11 suspects face judges at Gitmo (Mike Mount)

  • Hearings will determine if suspected terrorists can have military trials

  • 3 suspected terror planners among 14 to face combatant status review tribunals

  • Pentagon: Another high-value detainee scheduled for hearing Monday

  • Hearings could take weeks to finish; higher authorities must OK findings

  Mike Mount

  WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three suspected terrorists connected with the September 11, 2001, attacks have gone before judicial panels charged with determining whether they can be detained indefinitely, the Pentagon said Monday.

  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected 9/11 mastermind; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, another key 9/11 planner; and Abu Faraz al-Libby, a top al Qaeda planner,separately appeared before three-judge panels last week, Pentagon official said.

  Called combatant status review tribunals, the hearings determine whether detainees should be classified as enemy combatants, who can be held indefinitely and are eligible for military trials.

  The men are part of a group of 14 detainees who were once held in secret CIA prisons before President Bush ordered their transfers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September.

  Al-Libby and al-Shibh attended hearings Friday, while Mohammed faced judges Saturday at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, officials said.

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