9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and co-conspirators may avoid death penalty in new plea deal
The suspected main conspirator of the 9/11 terror attacks and his fellow defendants may never face the death penalty due to plea agreements being considered by the prosecution and defence lawyers.
The prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has been repeatedly disrupted, especially due to legal reasons over their interrogation under torture that the men underwent while in CIA custody.
As a result of the delays, it has taken more than a decade to reach a verdict, as families of the September 2001 attack victims wait for a decision.
It was Mohammed who presented the idea of such an attack on the US to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the United States’ 9/11 Commission concluded.
The investigation also found Mohammed received authorisation from bin Laden to mastermind the 9/11 attacks, while the four other men are alleged to have supported the hijackers in various ways.
The Pentagon and FBI sent the update of the plea consideration to several families of the victims in a letter.
It said: “The Office of the Chief Prosecutor has been negotiating and is considering entering into pre-trial agreements (PTAs).”
It told the families that while no plea agreement “has been finalised, and may never be finalised, it is possible that a PTA, in this case, would remove the possibility of the death penalty”.
The news came as a disappointment to the relatives of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed by the suicide attackers who hijacked planes, flying them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon HQ in Washington and crashing one in a Pennsylvania field.
The World Trade Center shortly after the attack
‘Those guys are still alive. Our children are dead’
Jim Riches, who lost his son Jimmy in 9/11, went to Guantanamo for pre-trial hearings in 2009.
14 years later, his disillusionment was clear upon receiving the letter.
Mr Riches said: “How can you have any faith in it?”
“No matter how many letters they send, until I see it, I won’t believe it,” he said.
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He was initially open to the use of military tribunals but now feels that the process is failing and that the 9/11 defendants should be tried in civilian court.
Poignantly, he added: “Those guys are still alive. Our children are dead.”
Peter Brady, whose father was killed in the attack argued that the case needed to go through “the legal process” and not a plea deal.
It’s about “holding people responsible, and they’re taking that away with this plea,” Mr Brady said.
The five defendants were captured at various times and places in 2002 and 2003 and sent to Guantanamo for trial in 2006.
No date for a trial has been set.
JD Vance and his wife are due to arrive in Greenland on Friday for a trip that provoked uproar – as Vladimir Putin warns that US threats to take over the island should be taken seriously.
The US vice president and his wife Usha are expected to arrive in Greenland at about 3.30pm GMT to visit America’s military base at Pituffik in the north of the Arctic island.
The itinerary has been stripped back. Mrs Vance had planned a solo visit to a popular dog-sled race on the island with national security adviser Mike Waltz – but the idea provoked anger as they had not been invited by authorities in either Greenland or Denmark.
Her husband then said he would be joining her for that trip, only for the itinerary to be changed once again to a one-day visit to the military post, following protests from Greenland and Denmark.
The trip comes after repeated assertions from Donald Trump that the US should take over Greenland, a territory which has been part of Denmark for 600 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is not surprised the US wants control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Mr Putin, who after being largely shunned by the West over his invasion of Ukraine has held two phone calls with Mr Trump since the Republican’s inauguration in January, said America’s proposition shouldn’t be seen as “extravagant talk”.
Pic: Reuters
Speaking at a policy forum in the Arctic port of Murmansk, he noted the US first considered plans to win control over Greenland in the 19th century, and then offered to buy it from Denmark after World War Two.
“It can look surprising only at first glance and it would be wrong to believe that this is some sort of extravagant talk by the current US administration,” Mr Putin said.
“It’s obvious that the United States will continue to systematically advance its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.”
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He went on: “We won’t allow any infringement on our country’s sovereignty, reliably safeguard our national interests while supporting peace and stability in the polar region.”
While pledging to strengthen Russia’s military foothold in the Arctic, Mr Putin said that Moscow was holding the door open to broader international cooperation in the region.
“The stronger our positions will be, the more significant the results will be and the broader opportunities we will have to launch international projects in the Arctic involving the countries that are friendly to us, and, possibly, Western countries if they show interest in joint work. I’m sure the time will come to launch such projects.”
Two events this week will give Greenland and friends in Europe a juddering sense of alarm.
From the West, the US vice president JD Vance is on his way, despatched by a president openly talking of annexation.
From the East a speech from a Russian leader hinting at carving up the Arctic and its vast mineral wealth with Moscow’s new friends in Washington.
In a closely watched speech, Vladimir Putin seemed to give Donald Trump’s plans to seize Greenland the green light.
They were “serious”, he said, and “have deep historical roots”.
Kremlin officials went further saying Russia was open to cooperating with America to exploit the Arctic with “joint investment”.
The Arctic is a huge prize. Its vast mineral wealth is increasingly accessible thanks to climate change.
Russia is well placed to exploit it with bases and ports ringing the Arctic Circle.
Mr Putin though warned that “NATO countries in general are increasingly designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts”.
A map of what surrounds the Arctic Circle
This would appear to be a warning to European nations to back off.
Yet another challenge for Europe
The threat of Russia and America jointly exploiting the Arctic in a great power carve-up is yet another challenge for Europe in this new Trumpian world order. And Greenland is caught in the middle.
Mr Trump has said he thinks the American annexation of Greenland “will happen”.
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He said so with breezy nonchalance in front of NATO’s secretary general in the White House as if taking another alliance member’s territory was entirely normal.
Astonishingly NATO secretary general Mark Rutte did not push back at the idea.
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Both President Trump and his vice president say America needs Greenland for security.
This seems disingenuous. There are no hostile fleets circling the Arctic territory whatever they claim.
Besides, America already has a military base there and could ask to build more.
Mr Vance also says Denmark has neglected Greenland. Denmark actually subsidises the territory to the tune of £480m a year.
In reality, what the Trump administration seeks in Greenland is what it seems to seek in Ukraine. Mineral wealth.
When we visited this month, Greenlanders told Sky News Mr Trump’s threats are little more than a gangster shakedown.
A menacing threat designed to extract material gain.
There is no appetite for an American takeover among Greenlanders. And no enthusiasm for the vice president and his wife.
US officials were reportedly going door to door this week asking if anyone would like to meet America’s second lady. None said yes.
The Vances have had to downscale their visit and will now only be going to the US base at Pittufik.
But it seems the Trump administration is determined one way or another to acquire more territory and Greenland seems top of the list.
And its president may have been persuaded by Mr Putin it is in his best interests to share the world with Russia, whatever that means for America’s allies.
That is a challenge they will need to meet.
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