US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin has rejected a war court ruling in Guantanamo Bay and revoked a plea deal reached earlier this week with the suspected masterminds of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack with two accomplices.
According to the New York Times, the Pentagon announced the decision on August 2, local time, through a dismissal document, senior officials at the US Department of Defense are responsible to military committees for supervising the death of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - suspect in the September 11 terrorist plot and accomplices.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has been blamed for the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
The dismissed senior official is retired Major General Susan K. Escallier, who signed a pre-trial settlement on July 31 with defendants Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as well as Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in which the defendants pleaded guilty in exchange for life in prison.
When dismissing Ms. Susan K. Escallier, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin directly supervised the case, canceling the agreement and this also means restoring the death sentence for the three suspects. The US Secretary of Defense also continues to let Ms. Escallier oversee other Guantanamo cases.
The New York Times noted that Ms. Escallier's acceptance of the settlement reached between prosecutors and defendants in the September 11 case after two years of negotiations was the move that led to the case being closed after being muddy in several pre-trial hearings since 2012.
At the time the US reached a plea agreement with three suspects in the September 11 terrorist attack, the Austin minister was working abroad and returned to the US late on July 31.
At that time, prosecutors in the case announced an agreement to plead guilty to the personal crimes of those killed in the terrorist attacks, many expressed disappointment and anger because the death sentence was no longer feasible for the suspects. The decision also faced opposition from Republicans.
A senior Pentagon official said the decision to revoke the plea agreement between the three suspects in the September 11 terrorist attack was made by Secretary Austin, not related to the White House. The source stressed that Mr. Austin had never backed a plea deal and wanted the military commission's trials to go through.
The cancellation of the plea agreement of the defendants in the September 11 case surprised the lawyers in Guantanamo Bay. The attorney is preparing for the earliest hearing in mid-next week, so that the judge of Matthew N. McCall case can question suspect Mohammed about whether he understands and voluntarily agrees to plead guilty.
