9/11 Mastermind Kalid Shaikh Mohammed to be Tried on NY Soil

Gov. Paterson on Monday joined the chorus of critics questioning the government’s plan to try Kalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other accused 9/11 terrorists in New York.

“This is not a decision that I would have made,” the governor said when asked about the upcoming federal trial of KSM and his four underlings.

“Our country was attacked on its own soil on Sept. 11, 2001, and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack,” Paterson said after an appearance at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new CUNY campus in East Harlem.

“Over 2,700 lives were lost,” he went on. “It’s very painful; we’re still having trouble getting over it. We still haven’t been able to rebuild that site, and having those terrorists tried so close to the attack is going to be an encumbrance on all of New Yorkers.”

Paterson said he had been made aware six months ago the White House decision was possible and has been preparing for it.

He promised the feds “would get my fullest cooperation.”

Pressed about the validity of military tribunals, Paterson said he has been too preoccupied with contentious budget negotiations in Albany to pay attention to the subtleties of law.

“I’ve been a little busy lately and I haven’t had a chance to read the material that would have informed me as to whether or not it would have been better for this to be a military tribunal or whether it should have been a civilian trial,” he said. “The decision is not mine to make.”

Over the weekend, Republican ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani – said to be mulling a run for governor — took issue with the administration’s decision, claiming civilian courts would be too concerned with the rights of terrorists.