Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be sent from Guantanamo Bay to New York for trial in a civilian court, reports say.
Citing unnamed government officials, the reports said he would be transferred from the US prison camp in Cuba with four other suspects.
US Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce the decision later, the officials say.
Mr Mohammed has admitted planning the 9/11 attacks, the US military says.
The five men have until now been facing prosecution at US military commissions in Guantanamo.
But US President Barack Obama has made closing the detention camp a top priority.
Asked about the reports during a visit to Tokyo, he said that Mr Mohammed would face "most exacting demands of justice".
According to the reports, Mr Holder will also announce that a suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen will be tried at a military tribunal.
Deadline looming
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been described by US investigators as "one of history's most infamous terrorists".
They say he has admitted being responsible "from A to Z" for the 9/11 attacks.
Believed to be the number three al-Qaeda leader, he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.
He told a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo in December 2008 that he wanted to plead guilty to all charges against him.
The other four men - thought to be the two Yemenis, a Saudi and a Pakistani-born Kuwaiti who have shared hearings with him at Guantanamo Bay - are also accused of helping plan and finance the attacks.
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The decision to try them in a New York court appears to be part of Mr Obama's efforts to close Guantanamo by 22 January 2010.
His administration says it will try some detainees in US courts and repatriate or resettle others who are not perceived as a threat.
However, questions remain over the fate of those assessed as dangerous but who for legal reasons could not be prosecuted in a US court - prompting suggestions that the deadline will slip.
The BBC
