US Defence secretary cancels plea deal with suspected 9/11 mastermind

US Defence secretary Lloyd Austin has decided to cancel the plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, the New York Times reports on Saturday morning.

It was reported this week that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence. This allowed him to avoid a trial by military tribunal, where he would have been sentenced to death.

Many Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, criticised the deal. Defence secretary Lloyd Austin has now decided to withdraw the deal.

The deal had been approved by Susan Escallier, a senior Pentagon official who oversees the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal. According to a Pentagon memo, Austin has stripped her of her authority to make deals in the case and taken responsibility himself "given the importance of this decision".

In the memo, Austin wrote that the plea deals would be rescinded immediately. Deals with two other defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, were also cancelled.

The three suspects have been held at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay since 2003 for their alleged involvement in the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.

^{© PHOTO SAUL LOEB / AFP}