US Abruptly Revokes Plea Deal With Alleged 9/11 Mastermind KSM, Co-conspirators

The US has revoked plea deals for 9/11 alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and co-conspirators after backlash and criticism from Republican lawmakers.

The United States on Friday abruptly revoked a plea deal for the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and his co-conspirators. In a surprise memo quietly released Friday night (local time), US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that he was withdrawing from the three pre-trial agreements, which had taken the death penalty off the table for the three men.

In a memo addressed to Susan Escallier, who oversaw the case, Austin said the responsibility for such a significant decision “should rest with me.” 

"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...I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024, in the above-referenced case," he said.

The move came two days after the Pentagon announced that it had reached a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (commonly known as KSM) and two other defendants – Walid Bin ‘Attash, and Hawsawi – accused of plotting the attacks.

'Life Sentence for KSM'

According to a report by Deutsche Welle, the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, where alleged mastermind KSM, Attash and al-Hawsawi are being held, announced on Wednesday it and the defendants had agreed to guilty pleas in exchange for a life sentence, instead of facing trials that could lead to their execution.

The decision soon met with a backlash after letters were sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaeda attacks explaining the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences.

Though, the White House said it had no prior knowledge of the agreement, many Republican lawmakers, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, strongly criticized the plea deals.

McConnell said the plea agreement was "a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice," according to the DW report.

The cases against the three 9/11 defendants have been stuck in pre-trial maneuverings for years while the accused remained held at the US military base in Cuba. Among the legal complications surrounding the case is whether these men could be fairly tried after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the years after 9/11.