Three key figures in the 9/11 attacks—Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi—have been held at Guantanamo Bay for years without trial. According to US news outlets, the men are set to plead guilty in exchange for the prosecution not seeking the death penalty.
The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, leading to the “War on Terror” and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. These attacks were the deadliest on US soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941, where 2,400 people were killed.
The plea deal was announced in a letter from prosecutors to victims’ families, according to The New York Times. The plea could happen as early as next week, though the US Department of Defense has not released specific terms and conditions of the agreements.
The men face multiple charges, including attacking civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking, and terrorism. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind behind the attacks, was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 along with Hawsawi. He allegedly proposed the plan to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and helped recruit and train the hijackers. Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding at least 183 times before the US government banned such “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
The trial has been delayed due to concerns that brutal interrogation methods, which critics say amounted to torture, could undermine the evidence. Last September, the Biden administration rejected a plea deal with Mohammed and others, who had sought guarantees against solitary confinement and wanted access to trauma treatment.
The White House National Security Council stated that President Biden was informed of the new deal on Wednesday but had no role in the negotiations. Victims’ families expressed frustration at the plea deal, feeling it denied them justice. Jim Smith, who lost his wife in the attacks, told the New York Post that the families had “waited 23 years to have our day in court” and that the deal deprived them of that opportunity.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the deal, 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.”
As the plea deal proceeds, many continue to debate the balance between justice and the legal complexities surrounding the use of controversial interrogation methods.
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