(WASHINGTON) — In a stunning development, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked the controversial plea deal for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices announced on Wednesday, and said he was taking oversight of the military tribunal at Guantanamo.
The move, once again, places the death penalty on the table for three of the five 9/11 defendants who would have received life in prison at the U.S. base in Guantanamo, in return for pleading guilty to the murder of 2,997 people in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on United flight 93.
Two other 9/11 defendants did not participate in the trial agreement, though only one of them, Ammar al Baluchi, could actually face trial proceedings at Guantanamo.
Last September a military judge ruled that the Ramzi bin al Shibh, the other defendant not participating in the plea agreement, was mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Austin’s move was quietly announced by the Department of Defense in a memo from Austin that was posted on the Pentagon’s press site late Friday night.
In the memo to retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, who approved the plea deal for Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, Austin said he was taking over responsibility for the cases.
“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 of 2009,” Austin wrote.
“Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself,” Austin continued.
Under this authority, Austin wrote, “I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024 in the above-referenced case.”
When the plea agreement was announced on Wednesday, military prosecutors acknowledged in a letter to the families of 9/11 victims that “the decision to enter into a pre-trial agreement will be met with mixed reactions amongst the thousands of family members who lost loved ones.”
“The decision to enter into a pre-trial agreement after 12 years of pre-trial litigation was not reached lightly; however, it is our collective, reasoned, and good-faith judgment that this resolution is the best path to finality and justice in this case,” they wrote.
The prosecution of the five 9/11 plotters detained at Guantanamo has been delayed by more than a decade over concerns about the admissibility of evidence gathered through torture when they were previously detained at the CIA’s “black sites.”
One group representing the families of 9/11 families expressed frustration that they had not been consulted about the plea agreement and its subsequent revocation.
“We are astounded and deeply frustrated that our families were not consulted or even notified in advance of the plea deal or its subsequent revocation,” said 9/11 Justice President Brett Eagleson. “These monsters need to be forced to share every piece of information they have about the attacks and be held fully accountable for the murder of our loved ones. It’s not just about punishment, it’s about uncovering the full truth.”
On Thursday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reiterated to reporters that “the White House had no role” in the plea agreement worked out by military prosecutors and that it had only been informed of the announcement on Wednesday when it became public.
But he also hinted that President Joe Biden wanted more information about the plea deal from the Pentagon.
Sullivan said that upon learning of the decision, Biden directed “his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter,” said Sullivan. “Those consultations are ongoing, and I have nothing more to add at this time.”
The plea agreement was to have been presented before a judge in Guantanamo as early as next week with a sentencing scheduled for the summer of 2025.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, two hijacked passenger jets flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, marking the start of a series of coordinated attacks that day against the United States by the Afghanistan-based terrorist group al-Qaida. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day and thousands more were injured.
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