WASHINGTON – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – the accused mastermind of 9/11 attacks – and two of his associates have agreed to plead guilty, the Pentagon said.

The major development, however, reportedly involves a plea deal – a move that has been immediately criticized by the Republicans. It comes just months before the US presidential election with a showdown between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

It means the prosecution will now not seek death penalty for the accused after reaching the plea deal.

Mohammed along with Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi are among the persons imprisoned at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay for years. They have spent all these years without going to trial.

The US-educated Mohammed was captured along with Hawsawi in Pakistan in March 2003.

However, the US Defense Department says “the specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time”.

THE CHARGES

Mohammed is accused of presenting the idea of hijacking and flying planes into the US buildings to al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. He also helped recruit and train some of the hijackers, says the prosecution.

Thus, the deadliest attacks on the US soil were carried out on Sept 11, 2001 with hijacked passenger planes, which crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

Meanwhile, the fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania due to the resistance offered by passengers.

Among others, the charges include attacking civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking and terrorism.

THE NO TRIAL

It is the “enhanced interrogation techniques” which have delayed the trial for such a long period.

There are fears that brutal interrogation techniques could have undermined the evidence against the detainees.

Reportedly, Mohammed went through “waterboarding” [stimulated drowning] and other measures for at least 183 times. The critics describes these as torture.

THE DETENTION FACILITY   

Mohammed is, perhaps, not only the most “famous” Guantanamo Bay inmate but also of any other prisoner around the world.

The notorious detention facility was established in 2002 by the then-US president George W Bush to house foreign militant suspects following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Once housing around 800 prisoners, its population has now shrunk to 30, according to the BBC.

The reason behind setting up this detention facility was that habeas corpus laws could not applied to Guantanamo Bay because of being outside the US territory.

Hence, it helped the President Bush administration meeting the requirements for a presidential order that allowed an indefinite detention of foreign nationals without charge.

THE ABDICATION OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the move as “a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice”.

“The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody,” he said.