Three men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks have entered into a pre-trial agreement.
Nearly 3,000 people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania were killed in the attacks, which changed the world, sparking the “War on Terror” and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi have been held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for years without going to trial.
The men will plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.
Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, said in a statement provided to the BBC that the families are “deeply troubled by these plea deals”, because the process lacks transparency.
The plea deal was first announced in a letter sent by prosecutors to the families of victims, says to The New York Times.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is considered the mastermind of 9/11, and is a notorious hijacking force to be reckoned with.
The trial has been delayed for so long partly because of fears that the so-called brutal interrogation techniques which critics say amounted to torture could have undermined the evidence against the detainees, ways the BBC.
In September, the Biden administration reportedly rejected the terms of a plea deal with five men held at the US Navy base in Cuba – one of whom was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as a response to the five’s request t they would not be kept in solitary confinement and would receive trauma treatment.
The White House said that the president’s office played no role in negotiations.
Saudi Arabia, the homeland of most of the attackers, denies involvement.
