In this file photo obtained by The Associated Press, alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen being killed during a raid in Pakistan on Saturday, March 1, 2003 Shortly after the arrest.
AP Photo
Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida terrorist attacks have agreed to plead guilty in military commission proceedings, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The terms of the three’s plea deals have not been released, but they are expected to plead guilty to lesser charges and potentially avoid the death penalty.
The military commission’s office said the defendant could file a plea at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week.
In addition to Mohammed, others expected to plead guilty include Walid Mohammed Saleh Mubarak bin Atash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Khosawi.
A sketch reviewed by the U.S. military on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009, shows, from upper left, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad; Walid bin Attash; Ramzi bin · Shib; Ali Abdul Aziz Ali (aka Ammar Baloch) and Mustafa al-Hawsawi appear before the U.S. Military Commission Tribunal on War at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba guilt hearing. On Friday, August 30, 2019, a military judge set to begin on January 11, 2021, the long-stalled war crimes trial of five men held at Guantanamo Bay prison on charges of planning and assisting the September 11 war crimes . (
Janet Hamlin | Pool | Associated Press
The prosecution of the men and other defendants held at Guantanamo Bay has dragged on for more than 16 years.
After the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, four groups of terrorists hijacked four passenger planes in the United States, crashing two of the planes into the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon.
A fourth hijacked plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers tried to break into the cockpit.
A courtroom painting by artist Janet Hamlin and reviewed by the U.S. military shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (center) on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008. and co-defendant Walid Bin Attash (left) attend a pretrial conference at the Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mohammed was the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks. His trial date has been repeatedly postponed. He remains in Guantánamo indefinitely.
Janet Hamlin | Pool | Associated Press
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