In what has frequently been trailed as "the trial of the century", they will soon stand accused of committing multiple counts of terrorism, hijacking and murder in violation of the law of war by devising the era-defining attacks on the American mainland.
"The charges allege that the five accused are responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the killing of 2,976 people," the Defence Department announced in a statement.
The full extent of their alleged crimes are detailed in an 88-page dossier listing every victim of the attacks by name. The charges were referred to a capital military commission, meaning that "if convicted, the five accused could be sentenced to death," the department said.
Mohammed, a 46-year-old Kuwaiti long known by US officials as "KSM", has been held at the base's Camp Delta prison for the past six years. He is alleged to have confessed that he was he "was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z" after extensive interrogation.
He was tortured by "waterboarding" 183 times – more than any other Guantánamo detainee. The controversial technique in which water is poured on a suspect's face to simulate drowning, has since been banned by the Obama administration.
Mohammed will appear in court at the base for arraignment within 30 days, alongside Saudi Arabians Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh of Yemen and Pakistani Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali. Their full trials are then expected to commence within months.
The fate of the five men will ultimately be decided by a jury of 12 military officers drawn from across America's armed forces. Under US military law, the officers must vote unanimously for the death penalty to be imposed.
Mr Obama’s aides will hope that the trial, which is set to commence amid his likely election campaign against Mitt Romney, will boost his chances of being returned to the White House by highlighting his crackdown on al-Qaeda and the assassination of Osama bin Laden.
In an attempt to move away from the controversial military tribunals, which were created by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks, Mr Obama originally made a high-profile effort to hold the trials in New York's civilian courts.
However, the notion that Mohammed should be brought within feet of the site where his alleged attack killed thousands under the collapsed towers of the World Trade Centre prompted outrage among Republicans, who blocked the plans in Congress.
After his capture in Pakistan in 2003, Mohammed was transferred over the next three years between a series of secret American bases around the world, as the CIA interrogated him for information on al-Qaeda's international terror network.
Moved to Guantánamo Bay in 2006, he allegedly accepted full responsibility the following year for September 11 and more than a dozen other plots, including plans to assassinate Pope John Paul II and former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Mohammed is also alleged to have boasted that he personally beheaded Daniel Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2002, with his "blessed right hand".
Prosecutors allege that for two years Mohammed was in frequent contact with Mohammed Atta, the leader of the 19 September 11 hijackers. He is alleged to have provided Atta and his team with money before giving the orders to go ahead with the "Planes Operation".
Read more at The Telegraph
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