Three men accused of planning the September 11 attacks, including their alleged architect, have agreed to plea deals after spending decades in U.S. custody.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi have all agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for life sentences.
The New York Times reported Wednesday night that the requests, which would allow the men to avoid a death penalty trial, had been approved by Pentagon officials.
All three men have been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2003. Mohammed is an Al Qaeda militant accused of being the chief architect of the September 11 attacks.
In a letter to families of the 9/11 victims, Chief U.S. Attorney General Aaron Rugh wrote: “In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three defendants have agreed to plead guilty to all charges, including the murder of the 2,976 individuals named in the indictment.
This Saturday, March 1, 2003, shows Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, shortly after his arrest during a raid in Pakistan
Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on September 11
The letter, seen by the Times, says the men can enter their pleas in open court next week, the Times reported.
The Defense Department released a statement Wednesday saying prosecutors had reached a settlement with the men, but the terms were not disclosed.
The persecution of the men has faced repeated delays and legal disputes, particularly over the legal implications of the interrogation in which the men were tortured while in CIA custody.
The Pentagon and FBI notified the victims’ families in August of last year that the death penalty may no longer apply in the prosecution of the men.
They were captured at various times and places in 2002 and 2003 and sent to Guantanamo in 2006 to face trial.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda conspirators seized control of airplanes and attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
A fourth plane was en route to Washington but crashed in Pennsylvania after crew and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.
It was Mohammed who presented the idea of such an attack on the United States to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda conspirators seized control of planes and struck the World Trade Center in New York, seen here, and the Pentagon near Washington.
The New York Times reported Wednesday night that the requests, which would allow the men to avoid trial on the death penalty, have been approved by Pentagon officials. Walid Bin Attash, left, and Mustafa al Hawsawi, right, are seen here
Mohammed was also the one who received permission from bin Laden to carry out the September 11 attacks, the US 9/11 Commission concluded.
The other suspects are said to have supported the hijackers in various other ways.
Mohammed was captured along with Hawsawi in March 2003 and subsequently held in CIA prisons until their transfer to Guantanamo in 2006.
The official number of victims of the attacks stands at 2,996, including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers.
Thousands more were injured, with New York suffering the greatest casualties, with an estimated 1,600 victims in the North Tower and another thousand in the South Tower.
Two of the original five suspects were not part of the new plea agreement. Ramzi bin al-Shibh was declared incompetent to stand trial due to mental illness.
Al-Shibh was accused of helping to organize a hijacking cell in Hamburg, Germany. Ammar al-Baluchi was also not part of the plea agreement.
Al-Baluchi is Mohammed’s cousin and is responsible for helping the hijackers with finances and travel arrangements.
