O The man accused of planning the September 11 attacks has agreed to plead guilty to the charges, the New York Times reports.
The same happened to two of his accomplices. The agreement should result in the trio being sentenced to life in prison, instead of being sentenced to death.
According to sources close to the Department of Defense, a senior official from the same organization has already given the ‘green light’ to the agreement, which involves Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.
The three men in question have been in US custody since 2003, and, according to the US publication, the families of the victims of the terrorist attack have already been informed of the agreement.
“In exchange for the death penalty being dropped as a possible punishment, the three defendants agreed to plead guilty to all charges, including the deaths of 2,976 listed in the indictment documents,” reads the letter sent to family members and cited by the publication.
The letter stated that the men could still enter their pleas as early as next week. Pleading guilty could avoid what was expected to be a trial that could last up to a year and a half.
The mastermind behind the attack, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, is a US-trained engineer and self-confessed jihadist who is believed to have come up with the idea of hijacking the planes and crashing them into the World Trade Center. According to prosecutors, Mohammed presented the idea to Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, in 1996 and later helped the hijackers train them.
The case was awaiting trial for more than a decade because there were doubts as to whether the torture to which the men were subjected had tampered with their testimonies about the case.
[Notícia atualizada às 23h21]
Read Also: Israeli attack in Beirut leaves seven dead and 78 injured
Download our free App.
Eighth consecutive year Consumer Choice for Online Press and elected product of the year 2024.
* Study by Netsonda, Nov. and Dec. 2023 productoftheyear- pt.com
Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2608201/mentor-do-11-de-setembro-declara-se-culpado-em-troca-de-pena-mais-leve
