The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) stated in a press release issued on Wednesday, July 31st, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States by the “Al-Qaeda” organization, along with two accomplices, has agreed to plead guilty.
According to the Pentagon, Khalid Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi are expected to plead guilty at a military commission in Guantanamo Bay as early as next week.
The Pentagon has indicated that the specific terms of the guilty plea agreement will not be disclosed immediately.
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to Reuters, said that the guilty plea agreement is almost certainly a trade-off for not receiving the death penalty. The official stated that while the terms of the agreement have not been publicly disclosed, Mohammed could potentially face life imprisonment.
Mohammed was captured by US authorities in 2003 and was identified as the mastermind behind the idea of using airplanes as weapons. It is believed that he received approval from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to plan the subsequent 9/11 hijackings and killings.
In 2008, Khalid Mohammed was charged with a series of crimes, including terrorism, providing material support for terrorism, conspiracy, war crimes, murder, attacking civilians, and attacking civilian objects. This guilty plea agreement comes over 16 years after Mohammed and his accomplices were indicted for terrorist attacks.
The case has been at a standstill for the past two decades, with the US government facing significant challenges in progressing the trial. The US had previously sought the death penalty for Mohammed. The guilty plea agreement avoids a lengthy and complex death penalty trial.
The trial was originally set to begin on January 11, 2021, but due to delays caused by two judges resigning and the COVID-19 pandemic, the date was pushed back again.
The Pentagon also mentioned that the three aforementioned defendants, along with two co-defendants, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were jointly indicted and interrogated in June 2008 and May 2012, accused of playing key roles in the 9/11 attacks against the US.
According to the Associated Press, some relatives of the nearly 3,000 victims who perished in this terrorist attack have received letters from the federal government, with defense attorneys requesting life sentences as part of the guilty plea exchange for these individuals.
Terry Strada, the national chair of the “9/11 Families United” organization representing families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, was present at a hearing in Manhattan federal court when she heard about the guilty plea agreement.
Strada mentioned that many families of the victims have endured a long wait, hoping to see these individuals admit guilt. However, she personally stated, “I want to see a trial. They took away what I expected, which was justice, trial, and punishment.”
Over twenty years ago, armed militants from the Al-Qaeda group hijacked four commercial airplanes, using them as fuel-filled missiles to crash into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
The hijackers piloted the fourth plane towards Washington, but crew members and passengers attempted to reclaim control of the plane, leading it to crash in a field in Pennsylvania.
This attack sparked the anti-terrorism war under the administration of President George Walker Bush, prompting US military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, and initiating years-long operations against extremist militant groups in the Middle East and other regions.