Prosecutors have reached plea agreements with three of the key figures behind the September 11 terror attacks who were awaiting trial at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as announced by the Department of Defense (DOD) on Wednesday.
According to the DOD, 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.
Specific terms of the plea deals have not been revealed; however, three relatives of 9/11 victims were informed by the Office of Military Commissions (OMC) that the terror suspects will avoid the death penalty, as reported by the New York Post.
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A hijacked plane crashing into the World Trade Center on 9/11 (Seth McAllister/AFP via Getty Images)
The accused are alleged to have provided training, financial backing, and various forms of support to the 19 hijackers who took control of passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001.
The attacks resulted in nearly 3,000 fatalities, marking the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil in history. Families of the victims expressed their anger upon learning of the agreements.
Jim Smith, a retired police officer and husband of Moira Smith, the only female officer who died on 9/11, told the newspaper, “I feel like I was kicked.”
Flowers are placed at the etching of Sneha Anne Philip’s name at the memorial during ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, in New York, Sept. 11, 2011. (Reuters/Carolyn Cole/Pool )
“The prosecution and families have waited 23 years to have our day in court to put on the record what these animals did to our loved ones. They took that opportunity away from us,” he stated. “They committed the worst crime in the history of our country, they should receive the highest penalty.”
“I am extremely disappointed. We waited patiently for a long time. I wanted the death penalty — the government has failed us,” remarked Daniel D’Allara, whose twin brother John, an NYPD officer, lost his life in the attacks.
In September, President Biden rejected a plea deal that would have excused the 9/11 architects and co-conspirators from potentially facing the death penalty.
The conditions the prisoners requested included assurance that they wouldn’t serve their sentences under solitary confinement and permission to dine and pray alongside other inmates at Guantánamo Bay. They also sought a civilian-operated program to address brain disorders, sleep issues, and gastrointestinal damage they allege was inflicted by the CIA during interrogations before their transfer to Guantánamo Bay in 2006, as reported by the New York Times at the time.
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9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad. (AP)
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The three men, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were initially charged jointly and arraigned on June 5, 2008, before being charged again and arraigned a second time on May 5, 2012, in connection with their roles in the attacks, according to the DOD.
Sentencing for the defendants is scheduled to occur at Guantánamo Bay on August 5.
