US Revokes Plea Deals with 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

US Revokes Plea Deals with 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Accomplices

In a significant development, the US has revoked plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, and two of his accomplices. This decision comes just days after the detainees, held at Guantanamo Bay, agreed to plead guilty.

Pentagon Takes Over Guantanamo War Court

The revocation of the plea deals was announced by the Pentagon, which has taken over the handling of the case from Susan Escallier, the former official in charge of the Guantanamo war court. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memo stating that he would personally oversee the proceedings.

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“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements,” Austin stated in his memo. This move comes as a direct response to widespread criticism from Republican legislators, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Details of the Plea Deals and Accused

The plea deals would have spared Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants from facing the death penalty. These deals were reportedly in exchange for guilty pleas, but the Pentagon’s decision now means that the death penalty remains a possibility.

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Mohammed, who is the most prominent detainee at Guantanamo Bay, has been held there since the facility was established in 2002. This facility was set up to house suspects linked to the September 11, 2001 attacks, which resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths.

Alongside Mohammed, plea deals were also reached with Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The Pentagon revealed that these three men were initially charged together on June 5, 2008, and were arraigned again on May 5, 2012.

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The decision to revoke the plea deals marks a pivotal shift in the handling of this high-profile case, with potential implications for future proceedings and sentencing.