'Mastermind' behind USS Cole attacks charged by US military

Washington: The US military says it has filed charges against the man it alleges was the mastermind behind an attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

Abd Al Rahim Al Nashiri, who has been charged with murder and terrorism crimes, has been held at Guantanamo Bay since being arrested in 2002.

The Pentagon has said it will ask for the death penalty in this case.

Al Nashiri says he only admitted to the USS Cole attack in Yemen, in which 17 US soldiers died, because he was tortured.

The Saudi national is one of three people who the CIA have admitted to using the controversial ‘water boarding' interrogation technique on.