US government revokes plea deal with 9/11 plotters

A pre-trial agreement with the plotters behind the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks that would have spared them the death penalty has been revoked by the US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin.

According to a memo sent by Austin on Friday, the Defence Secretary also revoked the authority of the officer of the court who had signed the agreement. 

Although the original deal concerned three men, Austin’s memo named five defendants, amongst them Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged ringleader of the plot, all of whom are being held in military custody at a US Navy base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. 

Besides Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the remaining four defendants are Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, the latter two had not been mentioned in the original plea bargain. 

The men are charged with a long list of offences which include targeting civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking and terrorism and have been in custody for decades without trial. They are yet to go on trial, despite more than a decade of pre-trial hearings, a delay due in part to their allegations of having been tortured by the Americans - which are supported by evidence.

Families of some of the victims had criticised the plea deal, which had been signed on Wednesday, and which would reportedly have spared the alleged attackers from execution.

The terrorist attacks, known ubiquitously as “9/11” saw hijacked civilian passenger jets being intentionally crashed into buildings in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, in the deadliest attack by an foreign power on American soil since the surprise air raid on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by Imperial Japan. 

They also sparked America’s infamous "War on Terror" in which Afghanistan and Iraq were both invaded, at the cost of thousands of lives.

"I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused... responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior authority," reads Austin’s memo to Brigadier General Susan Escallier.

"I hereby withdraw your authority. Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements."

The White House said on Wednesday that it had played no role in the plea deal.