Military prosecutors will seek the death penalty for six Guantanamo detainees who are to be charged with central roles in 9-11, government officials who have been briefed on the charges said Sunday.

The officials said the charges would be announced at the Pentagon as soon as today and were likely to include numerous war-crimes charges against the men, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the former al Qaeda operations chief who has described himself as the mastermind of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

A Defense Department official said prosecutors were seeking the death penalty because “if any case warrants it, it would be for individuals who were parties to a crime of that scale.”

The officials spoke anonymously because no one in the government was authorized to discuss the case.

(Source: Star Telegram)