Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin withdraws plea deal for accused 9/11 terrorists
NBCAUG 14 2024
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and two of his accomplices — Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi — have reached a plea deal with the US, the Defense Department announced Wednesday.US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a pre-trial deal reached with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and two of his accomplices — Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
Held at the federal military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the trio have agreed to plead guilty to all charges — including "the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet" — in exchange for a life sentence rather than the death penalty.In a memo on Friday, Austin also relieved retired Brigadier General Susan Escallier, the head of the US military commissions, of her authority to enter into the agreements in the case, stating "responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior authority."
Mohammed is accused of being the architect of the conspiracy to fly hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. Attash allegedly trained the hijackers, while al Hawsawi is charged with financing the terrorists and helping them with travel arrangements.The US Defense Department announced Wednesday that the trio, held at the federal military prison at Guantánamo Bay, have agreed to plead guilty to all charges — including "the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet" — in exchange for a life sentence rather than the death penalty.
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