Although Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks, has been apprehended by U.S. authorities, many students said they do not feel any safer.

“I don’t really feel safer because I’m sure he’s got a whole terrorist cell behind him, which is just as capable of planning attacks as he is,” said Bethany Williams, a senior history major from Columbus.

Mohammed, who is being held at a U.S. military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, was apprehended over the weekend in Pakistan.

During a session of Congress on Tuesday, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Mohammed’s arrest could destabilize the worldwide al Qaeda network.

Mohammed also is believed to be responsible for the USS Cole bombing and the 1993 attempted bombing of the World Trade Center.

“To respond to (al Qaeda’s) terrorist threat, the U.S. needs to apprehend the key players in the network, and (Mohammed) is one of those key people,” said Gary Bertsch, director of the University’s Center for International Trade and Security.

Despite the significance of the arrest, it is not likely the Department of Homeland Security will lower the terror alert from elevated to guarded.

“The terrorists who are out there doing their work will continue, and some may be motivated to become more active because of this arrest,” Bertsch said. “But in the long run, one would think that the terror alert would be lowered as the al Qaeda plans and infrastructure are infiltrated.”

To date, U.S. officials have detained more than 3,000 suspected al Qaeda members and supporters worldwide.

Like other detained Taliban supporters, Mohammed is considered an enemy combatant, and, therefore, is not subject to the due process guaranteed under U.S. law. He also is not protected by the same anti-torture safeguards granted to other internationally recognized prisoners of war.

But Chip Robeson, a junior from Marietta, said he thinks torture is an inherent violation of human rights.

“In America, we’re supposed to stand for (the value of) ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ so something about denying due process seems wrong on a moral level,” he said.

— Contributing: The Associated Press