- The 9/11 mastermind wants to plead guilty.
Reported Mastermind of 9/11 Attacks and Co-defendants to Plead Guilty in Deal with U.S. Justice Department
The alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and other co-defendants are reportedly set to reach a plea agreement with the U.S. justice department, according to U.S. defense officials. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants have agreed to such a deal, the U.S. Defense Ministry announced.
Exact details of the agreement have not been made public, and the further procedure remains unclear. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been detained at the infamous U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for many years, would reportedly avoid the death penalty through this agreement, according to U.S. media reports.
On September 11, 2001, the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil resulted in approximately 3,000 fatalities. Islamic terrorists hijacked two passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, and another into the Pentagon near Washington D.C. A fourth plane did not reach its target and crashed in the state of Pennsylvania. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is considered the chief architect of the attacks and is said to have overseen communication and financing of the operation.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Arrested in 2003
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. He was subsequently interrogated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to a U.S. Senate report, he was tortured during these interrogations. In 2006, he was transferred to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where he was to face a military tribunal for his role in the September 11 attacks. However, the trial against him and several co-defendants has been delayed for years.
The detention camp is located on Cuba at the U.S. naval base of Guantanamo Bay. At its peak, it held nearly 800 inmates. Established under Republican President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., it was designed to detain suspected Islamic terrorists without trial. Human rights organizations have long called for its closure. Despite this, a small number of detainees remain there.
The U.S. Defense Ministry announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants have agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. justice department. This agreement, if implemented, could potentially allow Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, currently detained at Guantanamo Bay, to avoid the death penalty.
