The American government has reached plea agreements with 9/11 terrorists Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The development was confirmed by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday, July 31.
“The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case. The specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time,” the official statement read.
“The three accused, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were initially charged jointly and arraigned on June 5, 2008, and then were again charged jointly and arraigned a second time on May 5, 2012, in connection with their alleged roles in the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States,” it added.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who is also known as KSM, was nabbed in Pakistan in 2003 for his alleged role in the 9/11 attacks.
According to reports, the US government would seek a death penalty for KSM.
According to the New York Times, the men agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence instead of a death penalty.
The 9/11 attacks, the deadliest in the US history, took place on September 11, 2001. It accounted for the death of more than 3,000 people.
On the morning of the ill-fated day several al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airplanes which were scheduled to travel from the northeastern US to California and used them as missiles.
Important buildings such as the World Trade Center and Pentagon were hit.
