Three Men Accused of 9/11 Plot Accept Plea Deal with Pentagon
The US Department of Defence has announced that three men accused of orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks have reached a pre-trial agreement. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi, who have been detained at the Guantanamo Bay US Navy base for years without trial, will plead guilty in exchange for the prosecution not seeking the death penalty.
US news outlets report that while the exact details of the plea deal have not been disclosed, the arrangement was communicated to the victims’ families in a letter from the chief prosecutor, Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh. The letter stated, “In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet.”
The attacks on September 11, 2001, claimed nearly 3,000 lives in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, leading to the “War on Terror” and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. This was the deadliest attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941, where 2,400 people were killed.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, along with Hawsawi, was captured in Pakistan in March 2003. Mohammad, a US-educated engineer, is accused of presenting the plan to hijack and crash planes into US buildings to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and later recruiting and training some of the hijackers. He was subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” including being waterboarded 183 times, a practice later banned by the US government.
The men face numerous charges, including attacking civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking, and terrorism. They are expected to formally enter their pleas as early as next week, according to the New York Times.
Admiral Rugh emphasized that the decision to accept the plea deal was not made lightly, calling it the “best path… to justice.” In September, the Biden administration had reportedly rejected a plea deal involving five men, including Mohammad, due to their demands for guarantees against solitary confinement and access to trauma treatment.
The White House National Security Council stated that President Biden was informed of the new deal but was not involved in the negotiations. Jim Smith, who lost his wife in the attacks, expressed his frustration to the New York Post, saying that the families had “waited 23 years to have our day in court to put on the record what these animals did to our loved ones.” He believes they deserve the “highest penalty.”
Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for the plea deal, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling it “a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice.” He added, “The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody.”
