Washington: Agencies - Europe and the Arabs
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks and US citizens deserve to see Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of these attacks, and other defendants tried before military courts, after the Pentagon canceled an agreement that spared them trial.
Al-Hurra TV reported that the agreement angered many relatives of the 3,000 victims of the attacks, as it spared the three defendants currently detained in Guantanamo, namely Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, from trial, in exchange for their admission of guilt and receiving a reduced sentence.
Under this agreement, the three defendants agreed to admit their guilt in exchange for a life sentence instead of being subjected to a trial that could lead to their execution.
Following this sharp criticism, Austin announced on July 31 the cancellation of this agreement. The move means that the three defendants will eventually face a trial that could result in the death penalty.

A few days ago, it was announced that Pakistani jihadist and al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, and two other defendants had all accepted a plea deal that would be issued against them in the United States. The US Department of Defense announced this in a brief statement late Wednesday evening. It was reported by newspapers in Brussels, citing the Belgian news agency.
The Pentagon did not publish details of the agreement with Mohammed, who is being held at the controversial US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. According to the New York Times, the Pakistani pleads guilty in exchange for a life sentence, thus avoiding a trial before a military court where he would be sentenced to death.

In addition to Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi also agreed to the plea deal. They have also been held at Guantanamo Bay for two decades. The three men are on trial for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people during the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001.