Appeals Court Rejects Plea Deal for 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

A divided federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's authority to cancel a plea deal that would have allowed accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences without parole, sparing them the death penalty. The decision reverses lower military courts that had approved the agreement, citing significant national security interests and the gravity of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. The deal, negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and Pentagon officials at Guantánamo Bay, would have required the defendants to answer questions from victims' families, but faced opposition from some relatives, Republican lawmakers, and firefighters' unions. Defense attorneys argued the deal was legally binding and that Austin acted too late to void it, but the appeals court ruled Austin was within his rights to reject the agreement. This ruling continues the prolonged and complex military prosecution of Mohammed, whose case is complicated by issues including evidence obtained through torture. The decision signals no quick resolution to the decades-long legal battle over bringing justice for the 9/11 attacks.