Grapevine

By Al Jazeera
Aug 1, 2024

US reaches plea deals with 9/11 accused, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Mohammed and two other defendants likely to enter formal plea next week over attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The United States has announced plea agreements with three men held in Guantanamo and accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The Pentagon did not release full details of the deals involving Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, but US media reported the three would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence rather than the death penalty.

They were due to face trial in a military court at the maximum-security facility, but their cases have been bogged down in legal manoeuvring for years.

Karen Greenberg, the director of the Center on National Security at the Fordham University School of Law, said the deals were a significant development.