US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has withdrawn a plea deal with three 9/11 suspects, including the alleged mastermind behind the attack, the Pentagon said on Saturday. The agreement involved the three men pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty.
The deal was initially announced by the prosecutors on Wednesday and involved Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi.
Mohammed is widely regarded as the mastermind of the 2001 attacks. Bin Attash is believed to have selected and trained most of the 19 hijackers who flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Al-Hawsawi is accused of financing the hijackers’ stays in the US before the attack.
The agreement was negotiated by retired Brigadier General Susan K. Escallier, who was designated by Austin as the convening authority for military commissions in 2023. The defense secretary has now removed her from the case, a memo published by the Pentagon says.
According to the document, Austin reserves the exclusive right to enter into pre-trial agreements with the suspects for himself.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act,” Austin said in the memo, informing Escallier that he is withdrawing her authority in this particular case. He also said he “withdraws from the three pre-trial agreements” signed on July 31, 2024. He did not provide any reasons for the withdrawal.
The deal envisaged the three suspects receiving life sentences and avoiding a major trial and potential death penalties in exchange for pleas. All of them are currently being held at the US Navy’s detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The suspects were captured in 2003 and spent time in other secret CIA prisons previously.
The suspects were initially set to stand trial in January 2021, but it was repeatedly postponed as defense lawyers argued that the use of torture against the accused rendered much of the evidence against them inadmissible in a court of law.
News of the plea deals sparked outrage from groups representing the families of 9/11 victims. The organizations insisted that the agreements should “not close the door on obtaining critical information that can shed light on Saudi Arabia’s role” in the attacks.
Most of the hijackers, as well as former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, Bin Attash, and al-Hawsawi hail from prominent Saudi families. Saudi Arabia was sued by members of the group ‘9/11 Justice’ over its alleged complicity in the attacks. Riyadh has denied any responsibility.