9/11 mastermind wants to plead guilty
Twenty-three years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the alleged mastermind is expected to plead guilty. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed remains in the notorious U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo. He now appears to have agreed to a deal.
The alleged chief planner of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and other co-defendants are reportedly reaching an agreement with the justice system to plead guilty, according to U.S. government statements. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants have agreed to such a deal, the U.S. Department of Defense announced. The further procedure remains unclear, but it is expected that the three men will enter their guilty pleas as early as next week. The New York Times reports that the three have agreed to plead guilty and accept a life sentence instead of the death penalty.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been imprisoned at the notorious U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo for many years. On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. Islamic terrorists hijacked three passenger planes and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in the state of Pennsylvania. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is considered the mastermind of the attacks and is said to have also handled the communication and financing of the operation.
Trial never concluded
The now 60-year-old Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in his home country of Pakistan in 2003. He was then interrogated by the U.S. CIA. According to a report by the U.S. Senate, he was tortured during the interrogations. In 2006, he was transferred to the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo, where he was to be tried by a military tribunal for his role in the 9/11 attacks. However, the trial against him and several co-defendants was delayed for many years. Families of many of the victims had expressed a desire to see the men officially admit their guilt.
The detention camp is located on Cuba in the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. At its peak, nearly 800 people were imprisoned there. The camp was established in the U.S. after the 9/11 terrorist attacks under the Republican President George W. Bush to detain suspected Islamic terrorists without trial. Human rights organizations have long called for its closure. However, a small number of detainees remain there to this day.
The U.S. Department of Defense revealed that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants have agreed to a plea deal with The Commission, which is handling his case. This development comes after several years of delay in the trial against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants, as families of the victims sought to hear an official admission of guilt.
