US agrees to plea deal with 9/11 mastermind

In a historic development that marks the possible end of one of the longest legal sagas in American history, the United States government has reached plea deals with three key figures accused of masterminding the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001.

Among those who agreed to the deal was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that Mohammed, along with co-defendants Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, had signed pretrial agreements, paving the way for the case to be settled. While the specific terms of the agreements have not been made public, reports indicate that the defendants will plead guilty in exchange for life in prison, thus avoiding the death penalty.

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The plea deal comes after years of legal wrangling and delays in the military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed when al-Qaeda militants hijacked four domestic flights and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

The attacks sparked what then-President George W. Bush called the “war on terror,” which led to the U.S. military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and years of U.S. operations against armed militant groups elsewhere in the Middle East.

US agrees plea deal with 9/11 mastermind first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.