Mohammed is the most widely known inmate at the US detention facility known as Guantánamo Bay on the coast of Cuba. It was set up in 2002 by then-US president George Bush to detain foreign militant suspects after the September 11 attacks on the US.
Mohammed is accused of masterminding the plot to fly hijacked commercial passenger aircraft into the World Trade Centre in New York City and into the Pentagon. The 9/11 attacks, as they are known, killed nearly 3,000 people and plunged the US into a two-decade war in Afghanistan.
Human rights experts, including at the UN, have condemned torture at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere during the so-called war on terror and demanded an apology from Washington. Former president Barack Obama acknowledged in 2014 that the US had engaged in torture and said it was “contrary to our values”.
Separately on Monday, the Pentagon said Ridah Bin Saleh Al-Yazidi, one of the longest-held detainees at Guantánamo Bay, was repatriated from the detention facility to his home country of Tunisia. He was held without charge for more than 20 years.
The Pentagon said 26 detainees remained at the facility, of whom 14 are eligible for transfer.
Reuters
US military appeals court says plea deals related to 9/11 attacks can proceed
Image: Nist / File photo
A US military appeals court has ruled that plea deals related to the man accused of masterminding the September 11 2001 attacks and two accomplices can proceed after defence secretary Lloyd Austin earlier moved to invalidate the agreements.
In August last year Austin rescinded plea deals the Pentagon entered into with the trio, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
In November a US military judge ruled Austin acted too late on revoking the plea deals and they were valid. The order late on Monday by the US military appeals court upheld that ruling.
The Pentagon declined to comment. It has previously said Austin was surprised by the plea deals and the secretary was not consulted because the process is independent.
Under the deals, it is possible the three men could plead guilty to the attacks and in exchange not face the death penalty.
Mohammed is the most widely known inmate at the US detention facility known as Guantánamo Bay on the coast of Cuba. It was set up in 2002 by then-US president George Bush to detain foreign militant suspects after the September 11 attacks on the US.
Mohammed is accused of masterminding the plot to fly hijacked commercial passenger aircraft into the World Trade Centre in New York City and into the Pentagon. The 9/11 attacks, as they are known, killed nearly 3,000 people and plunged the US into a two-decade war in Afghanistan.
Human rights experts, including at the UN, have condemned torture at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere during the so-called war on terror and demanded an apology from Washington. Former president Barack Obama acknowledged in 2014 that the US had engaged in torture and said it was “contrary to our values”.
Separately on Monday, the Pentagon said Ridah Bin Saleh Al-Yazidi, one of the longest-held detainees at Guantánamo Bay, was repatriated from the detention facility to his home country of Tunisia. He was held without charge for more than 20 years.
The Pentagon said 26 detainees remained at the facility, of whom 14 are eligible for transfer.
Reuters
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