US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a plea deal with three defendants accused of playing a role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the New York Times reported, citing a document.
The widely criticized deal would have taken the death penalty off the table for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, currently awaiting trial in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The co-accused are believed to have provided training, financial and otherwise support to the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack on the United States.
The Pentagon chief also dismissed the official heading the military commission that had signed the plea deals on July 31.
"Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024," Austin's letter is cited as saying.
News of the original pre-trial deals had created a furore among victims' groups. Brett Eagleson, the president of the group 9/11 Justice, said on Thursday that his organization was “deeply troubled” by the plea deals reached without consulting the families of victims.
On Friday, the House Armed Services Committee announced the start of an investigation into the plea deals and the part the Biden administration played in the process, despite assurances to the contrary by the White House.
"The White House wasn't aware of this deal or the process leading up to it until yesterday," White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday. "There's no change to the President's policy and opinion that Guantanamo should be closed, but in this particular case with these plea deals, we're going to be reaching out to the Department of Defense as appropriate to have discussions about it."