Pentagon, FBI say architects of 9/11 attacks may not face death penalty under new plea deal

More than 20 years after the deadly 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the suspected masterminds behind the atrocities may not face the death penalty. There have reportedly been "legal disputes" that have delayed the trial, and delayed justice for the dead and their families.

At issue has been the interogation methods reportedly used when the men were first captured and brought to a detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

One of the men being held, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is the one who came up with the idea of bombing New York and Washington with planes full of civilians and told Osama bin Laden about the plan. Bin Laden approved the plan, per the 9/11 Commission.

This man, per the FBI, may not face the death penalty.

And it is the interogation he underwent by the CIA that is at issue. There has been much back-and-forth about the admissiblity of what he said while under duress, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning. 

The suspects were captured in 2002 and 2003, were sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 for trial, and have been held there since. Nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, when planes slammed in New York's twin World Trade Centers and DC's Pentagon.

The FBI and the Pentagon told the families of those who were killed that they were negotiating a deal with those who are suspected of creating such carnage. The prosecution of these individuals in military tribunals has been ongoing for more than a decade. Prosecutors have been negotiating an end to the trial for more than 10 years.

The hearings are on hold while the mental capability of one of the defendants is being reviewed. September 18, 2023 is the scheduled day for hearings to resume. Ramzi Binalshibh is another man being held.

The AP broke the news that a letter had been sent from US officials to families of the dead. It read: "The Office of the Chief Prosecutor has been negotiating and is considering entering into pre-trial agreements."

The letter states that though there has not, to date, been a finalized plea deal negotiated with the men suspected of conceiving and planning the destruction, "and may never be finalized, it is possible that a PTA in this case would remove the possibility of the death penalty."

The August 1 letter arrived to families this week, and instructed them to respond to victim services with the FBI by Monday with comments or questions. The FBI provided no comment to the AP.

Families now have little faith in the prosecution of these men. "How can you have any faith in it?" Jim Riches, father of a fallen firefighter said to The Daily Mail. "No matter how many letters they send, until I see it, I won't believe it."