Appeals court overturns 9/11 mastermind's plea deal
By a two-to-one majority, the appeals court validated the decision of former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who in August 2024 overturned the plea agreements of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants, which would have spared them the death penalty.
Photo, obtained on March 1, 2003, shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
An appeals court has again overturned the plea deal of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The decision further delays the court-martial trial.
By a two-to-one majority, the appeals court validated the decision of former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who in August 2024 overturned the plea agreements of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants, which would have spared them the death penalty.
These plea agreements were reinstated by a military judge's decision in November.
The three detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, the three detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, are accused of terrorism and the murder of nearly 3,000 people in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The terms of the deal were not made public but, according to U.S. media reports, they agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit crimes in exchange for life in prison, rather than a trial which could have led to their execution.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's photo
This Pakistani, known as "KSM," was transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006.
The three men were never tried, because the trial was stalled due to doubts about whether torture they suffered in secret CIA prisons altered any evidence against them.
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