US defence secretary revokes plea deals for 3 Sept 11 alleged masterminds

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked plea deals yesterday that agreed to earlier this week with the man accused of masterminding the Sep 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and two accomplices, who are held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Austin also relieved Susan Escallier who oversaw Pentagon’s Guantanamo war court who worked on the plea deal.

“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements …,” Austin wrote in a memo.

The plea deal was earlier reached with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.

The plea deal had previously come under heavy criticism from Republicans.