The alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and two other accused terrorists will plead guilty in U.S. offshore prison Guantánamo Bay.
and two of his alleged accomplices have been detained since 2003 over their involvement in the attacks.
After agreeing to a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, the three men are expected to be handed life sentences.
9/11
On 11 September 2001, terrorists from the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial U.S. flights.
Two were deliberately crashed into New York’s World Trade Centre (the Twin Towers) killing 2,977 people.
One of the planes crashed into the U.S. Department of Defense in Virginia (the Pentagon), killing 184 people.
Passengers and crew successfully diverted the fourth plane from its planned target, Washington, D.C. It crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people on board.
In the wake of the attacks, then-President George Bush signed new U.S. military powers into law.
The legislation gave officials protections to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against any person, organisation, or country responsible for the attacks.
Once the laws passed, the Bush administration declared a ‘Global War on Terror’ and the U.S. invaded Iraq.
The CIA led a decade-long manhunt for al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011. Dozens of others were arrested during this time over suspected ties to the terrorist group.
Arrests
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was captured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Pakistan in 2003.
Mohammad’s two alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, were also arrested in 2003.
The three men were transferred to the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba in 2006, where they have been held ever since.
Later in 2007, Mohammad admitted to authorities he was the architect of the 9/11 attacks.
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Guantánamo
The 9/11 suspects were expected to eventually face trial at Guantánamo Bay.
Originally a U.S. naval station, it was first used as an offshore detention facility for suspected war criminals in 2002. Around 800 people have been detained in Guantánamo Bay since then. 30 remain.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International have repeatedly accused the CIA of using Guantánamo Bay as a site to torture and abuse prisoners.
These groups have also raised concerns over the ongoing detention of several prisoners without fair trials.
A 2014 U.S. Senate report revealed evidence the CIA had tortured Mohammad extensively after he was captured.
According to the findings, the CIA ‘waterboarded’ him “at least 183 times”, and kept him awake for seven and a half days straight.
Waterboarding is a form of torture when a person has water poured over their face while their mouth and nose are covered.
The report found that torture – which the CIA called “enhanced interrogation techniques” – led to poor quality information from detainees, including lies.
Guilty plea
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi are charged with 3000 counts of murder.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the three prisoners struck a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. They’re expected to formally enter their guilty pleas by October, possibly earlier.
, the Pentagon confirmed the prisoners will plead guilty, and will be sentenced to life in jail.
Response
Two support groups, ‘9/11 Families United’ and ‘9/11 Justice’, have expressed their disappointment about the “closed-door agreements” of the plea deal.
Republican House Speakeralso called the arrangement “unthinkable”.
“The families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice. This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families,” Johnson said.
