A senior al-Qaeda suspect has said he wants to confess to killing thousands of people in the September 11 attacks in a move which could speed up his execution.

In an abrupt reversal of previous attempts to defend themselves, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants indicated to a judge in Guantánamo Bay they want to plead guilty.

The move is being seen as an apparent attempt to push through their prosecution and execution for multiple murder charges.

Their admission that they took the decision on November 4, the day on which Barack Obama won the US presidency, provided the strongest clue as to their motives. Mr Obama has said he wants to close down the controversial detention camp and try its inmates elsewhere.