US drops charges against 9/11 '20th hijacker'

The Pentagon is dropping charges against a Saudi incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay who was said to have been the “20th hijacker” in the September 11 attacks.

Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men facing murder charges before a US military tribunal for the 2001 attacks.

But US military defence lawyers confirmed that a Pentagon official had finalised the charges only against the other five, including the alleged architect of the attacks.

US officials have said al-Qahtani was subjected to harsh treatment authorised by former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld.