A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a plea agreement that would have allowed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, to avoid the death penalty.
The court’s divided ruling effectively dismantles an effort to end over two decades of stalled military prosecution marked by legal delays, logistical hurdles, and intense political scrutiny.
Mohammed, who is accused of orchestrating the plot to crash hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, was expected to plead guilty under the now-nullified agreement. The deal would have spared him execution in exchange for full cooperation and an acknowledgment of guilt.
Friday’s decision signals there is still no clear resolution in sight for one of the most high-profile terrorism cases in U.S. history, despite repeated attempts by multiple administrations and the military to move it forward.
The ruling resets the course of a prosecution that has struggled for over 20 years to deliver justice for the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks.
