By Imtiaz Tyab
BBC News, Washington
**A senior US spokesperson has said that the self-professed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks is likely to be executed if found guilty of his alleged crimes.**Speaking on US television, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was going to “meet his maker” if found guilty.
The Pentagon says Mohammed has admitted to being responsible “from A to Z” for the attacks in New York and Washington.
Mr Gibbs refused to say where the trial would be held.
A plan to put Mohammed and his four co-conspirators on trial in New York has been criticised as disruptive and expensive.
“Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and is going to meet his maker,” Mr Gibbs told US network, CNN.
“He is likely be executed for the heinous crimes that he committed in killing and masterminding the killings of 3,000 Americans,” he added.
But he refused to clarify whether the trial of Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators would take place in a federal courtroom, or in a military commission.
He repeatedly refused to confirm reports that US President Barack Obama’s administration has begun looking for locations other than the Lower Manhattan courthouse - which sits in the shadow of where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood - for the trial.
The White House is facing fierce criticism of the plan to try the men in New York.
Earlier, the city’s mayor Michael Bloomberg - who once supported the plan - reversed his position citing security concerns and a price tag for the trial which he predicts could cost upwards of around $1bn.