Three Sept 11 suspects agree to plead guilty at Guantanamo, New York Times reports

WASHINGTON – The man accused of plotting the Sept 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and two of his accomplices held at the Guantanamo prison have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence, the New York Times reported on July 31, citing unidentified Pentagon officials.

The deal for the guilty pleas by Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi rather than a death penalty trial has been approved by a senior Pentagon official, the Times said. All three men have been in custody since 2003.

Mohammed is an Al-Qaeda militant accused by the US of being the principal architect of the Sept 11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington.

“In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offences, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet,” the chief prosecutor, Rear-Admiral Aaron Rugh, said in a letter to family members of Sept 11 victims, according to the Times.

The letter said the men could submit their pleas in open court as early as next week, according to the Times.

The US Defence Department released a statement on July 31 saying prosecutors had reached plea agreements with Mohammed, Bin Attash and al-Hawasawi, without disclosing the terms of those deals. REUTERS