The United States has reached a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, and two other defendants, the US Department of Defense announced on Wednesday local time). Mohammed, also known as KSM, was apprehended in Pakistan in 2003 for his suspected role in the terrorist attacks.
In 2008, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed faced charges including conspiracy, murder under the law of war, assaults on civilians and civilian objects, causing serious injury, property destruction under the law of war, terrorism, and providing material support for terrorism, according to CNN. The US had planned to pursue the death penalty for Mohammed. Additionally, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi have also agreed to plea deals, the Pentagon confirmed.
The New York Times reports that the men have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in return for a life sentence instead of the death penalty. On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced its deadliest terrorist attack, with over 3,000 fatalities. In just 102 minutes, the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center fell after being hit by planes hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from Al Qaeda took control of four commercial flights traveling from the northeastern US to California. They turned the planes into weapons, crashing the first two into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the third into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control. The attacks resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers intervened, preventing it from reaching its intended target.
