The US Department of Defense has taken a major step. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday canceled the agreement with 9/11 accused Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. This decision was made just two days after the announcement of the agreement in which Khalid’s death sentence was allegedly abolished.
According to a report, on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, the US announced an agreement with Mohammed and his two alleged associates. Following this announcement, there were speculations that the long-running cases involving the main accused of this tragic incident might be moving toward resolution. However, some relatives of those killed on September 11, 2001, expressed their anger. They protested against the agreement, prompting the US government to cancel it.
What did the US Defense Secretary say?
“I have decided that decisions regarding pretrial settlements with individuals accused of a crime are so significant that they should be made by them,” Austin said in a memo addressed to Susan Escalier, who oversees the case. He wrote a letter to Escalier, stating that they are withdrawing the agreements made on their behalf on July 31, 2024. The cases against the accused in the 9/11 attacks have been ongoing for a long time, and the defendants remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.
Admitted guilt to conspiracy in return for a life sentence
According to a New York Times report, three men—Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi—decided to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for spending the rest of their lives in prison. They chose to avoid a trial and the possibility of a death sentence. There is ongoing debate about the fairness of prosecuting them, considering that the CIA had worked with them after 9/11 and they had been treated very poorly.
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