A plea deal with accused 9/11 plotters revoked
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has rescinded a pre-trial agreement with men accused of orchestrating the 11 September terrorist attacks.
In a memo issued on Friday, Austin also revoked the authority of the military court officer who had signed the agreement on Wednesday.
The original deal, which reportedly would have spared the alleged attackers the death penalty, faced criticism from some victims’ families.
The memo named five defendants, including the alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, all held in Guantánamo Bay. The initial deal had named three men.
“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,” Austin wrote to Brig Gen 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 stated on Wednesday that it had no involvement in the plea deal.
KSM is alleged to have introduced the idea of hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He was captured in Pakistan in 2003 along with Hawsawi, a Saudi national accused of fundraising.
Ali, a computer scientist and KSM’s nephew is accused of providing technical support for the 9/11 operation.
Bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni, allegedly coordinated the attacks and had intended to be a hijacker but could not secure a US visa.
Bin Attash, also Yemeni, is accused of bombing the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, killing 17 sailors, and of involvement in the 11 September attacks.
Several Republicans praised the defense secretary for rescinding the deal.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the “Biden-Harris Administration is correct to reverse course,” attributing the decision to Republican investigations into the plea deal.
“Now deliver long-awaited justice for 9/11 families,” he added.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham commended the decision, saying it “exercised good command judgment.”
“The previous plea deal would have sent absolutely the wrong signal to terrorists throughout the world,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, Republican Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers demanded answers from Mr Austin on how the deal was struck.
“This deal signals willingness to negotiate with terrorists who deliberately harm Americans,” he wrote in a letter to the defense secretary.
The 9/11 attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania sparked the “War on Terror” and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
They were the deadliest assault on US soil since the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where 2,400 people were killed.
