US military court clears way for possible plea deals for 9/11 suspects
Al JazeeraPentagon chief Lloyd Austin has sought to throw out a possible deal in a case complicated by accusations of CIA torture. A United States military appeals court has denied an effort by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to throw out possible plea deals for the alleged mastermind of the attacks on September 11, 2001, and his two co-conspirators. The deals could see the three men — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi — plead guilty to the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. While a Pentagon appointee had initially signed off on the plea deals, Austin sought to revoke the agreements in August amid pressure from lawmakers and family members of victims, who deemed the deals too lax. Defence lawyers, however, charged that Austin’s push to revoke the plea deals represented unlawful interference in the case.