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The Pentagon intends to challenge a recent ruling by a military court that deemed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to invalidate plea deals for several accused 9/11 co-conspirators improper, a defense official tells NBC News. “We intend to seek postponement of any hearing on the pleas or pretrial agreements during that time,” the official said. In July, prosecutors announced they had entered into pretrial plea agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. But in a shocking move days later, Austin withdrew the controversial plea deals and removed Susan Escallier, the convening authority for military commissions, from the case. A judge in the case agreed, ruling last week that Austin operated outside his authority to invalidate the plea deals and declared the plea deals valid and enforceable.

Persons: Lloyd Austin’s, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, Austin, Susan Escallier, Mohammed Organizations: Pentagon, NBC

☆ Attorneys say Austin violated military rules in halting deal for alleged 9/11 conspirators
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-07 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Wednesday’s pretrial hearing, which has been scheduled for months, followed a whiplash decision by Austin to revoke a plea deal that had been announced just two days prior last week. “What he did was illegal,” Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale University and co-founded the National Institute of Military Justice, told CNN. But Sowards argued Wednesday that by revoking the deal, Austin was actually doing more harm to the families. While the terms of the pretrial agreement had not been released publicly, among them was the assurance that the detainees would answer questions by 9/11 victim family members. Sowards said family members had already “been submitting questions in good faith,” and expecting answers in return as part of the deal.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, ”, ” Walter Ruiz, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, Austin, Susan Escallier, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Ruiz, “, ” Austin, ” Eugene Fidell, Gary Sowards, Mohammad, ” Sowards, Clayton Trivett, ’ ”, Austin “, Antony Blinken, “ I’m, Sowards, Wells Dixon, Majid Khan, Khan, Dixon, ” Dixon, Eugene Fidell’s Organizations: CNN —, Defense, Guantanamo, Pentagon, White, White House, Yale University, National Institute of Military, CNN, Military Commissions, Austin, Military, Australian, American, ”, Center for Constitutional Rights Locations: Guantanamo, Austin, Belize

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday withdrew the plea deal for the three men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks. Austin announced the move in a letter addressed to Susan Escallier, the convening authority for military commissions, who had worked to negotiate the deal. "Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself," Austin said in the letter. Officials said on Wednesday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi had reached plea agreements. The three men were expected to plead guilty to lesser charges that would prevent them from receiving the death penalty.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, Austin, Susan Escallier, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi Organizations: WASHINGTON —, Friday

Eleven years ago, in 2013, Holder said that Mohammed and his associates would have been “on death row as we speak” had the case gone to federal court as he proposed. But he blamed Congress for blocking a federal trial that would have resulted in swifter justice. They were dealt a bad hand by the political hacks and those who lost faith in our justice system,” Holder said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday. “If my decision to try KSM and his confederates in the tested and effective federal court system had been followed they would be nothing more than a memory today,” Holder said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he’s “long advocated that our federal court system is perfectly capable of conducting this kind of trial” and was well-suited to handling serious crimes.

Persons: Eric Holder, ”, Holder, ” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al, General Holder, Mohammed, ” Holder, KSM, “, ” Eric Holder, Chip Somodevilla, Rudy Giuliani —, Donald Trump’s, —, Giuliani, Tsarnaev, William Barr, Trump, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, hadn’t, ” Barr, he’d, he’s, Barr, Alexanda Amon Kotey, Joe Biden’s, Mitch McConnell, McConnell, Sen, Chris Coons, doesn’t, ” Coons, Richard Blumenthal, Conn, “ I’ve, ” Sen, Chris Van Hollen, Biden, Thom Tillis, I’m, ” Tillis, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton Organizations: WASHINGTON, Guantanamo, Pentagon, CIA, NBC, New York City, Prisons, Boston Marathon, Rockies, Republican, Trump, Justice Department, Islamic State, White, NBC News, House Locations: United States, Guantanamo, Manhattan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, America, Pakistan, Caribbean, ADMAX Florence, Colorado, ”, George H.W ., ADMAX, Florence, Ky

☆ US reaches plea deal with alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The US has reached a plea deal with alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, according to the Defense Department. Mohammed, often known as KSM, was captured in Pakistan in 2003 for his alleged involvement in the terror attacks. The US had said it would seek the death penalty for Mohammed. Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi have also reached plea agreements, according to the Pentagon. The men agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence instead of a death penalty, according to The New York Times.

Persons: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi Organizations: CNN, Defense Department, Pentagon, The New York Times Locations: Pakistan

☆ 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, 2 others charged in terror plot reach plea deals
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a file photo Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003, in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and two other men charged with plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks by al-Qaeda have agreed to plead guilty in the military commissions process, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The terms of the plea deals for the three men, who have been in custody since 2003, were not released, but they are expected to plead guilty to some charges, and potentially avoid death sentences as a result. The Office of Military Commission said that the defendants will enter their pleas as early as next week at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In addition to Mohammed, the other men expected to plead guilty are Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.

Persons: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, Aaron Rugh Organizations: Associated Press, Pentagon, Military Commission, New York Times Locations: Pakistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

☆ Lithuania Broke Human Rights Laws in Case Tied to CIA Detention Program, European Court Rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lithuania broke European human rights laws by allowing the CIA to subject an alleged 9/11 suspect to "inhuman treatment" in a secret interrogation center in the Baltic country, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday. Al-Hawsawi is now held in Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of being a facilitator and financial manager of al Qaeda. While held in Lithuania, he experienced an extremely harsh detention regime, according to the press release, including solitary confinement, the continuous use of leg shackles and exposure to noise and light. “While not commenting on the specific case, I’d note that CIA’s detention and interrogation program ended in 2009," a CIA spokesperson said. It came to symbolize the excesses of the U.S. "war on terror" because of harsh interrogation methods that critics have said amounted to torture.

Persons: Mustafa Ahmed Adam al, Hawsawi, George W, Bush, Jonathan Landay, Daphne Psaledakis, Bill Berkrot Organizations: WASHINGTON, CIA, of Human, Convention, Lithuanian, Baltic News Service, Lithuania's, U.S, Senate, Republican, Pentagon Locations: Lithuania, Baltic, Guantanamo Bay, al Qaeda, Lithuanian, Washington, Guantanamo, Cuba, New York

☆ Drought imperils Iraq's water buffalo and a child's way of life
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Alaa Al-Marjani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Petting a water buffalo before tying a fodder bag around its neck, Mustafa Ahmed tends his father's herd in Iraq's southern province of Najaf where his family have raised animals for generations but lack of water now threatens their livelihood. Iraq forms part of the "Fertile Crescent", land sweeping from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf which has been farmed for thousands of years. But the landscape has been devastated by upstream damming of Iraq's two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, lower rainfall trends and decades of conflict. Ahmed's father, Ahmed Abdul Hussein, said the dire water shortage in their home Al-Mishkhab district is forcing him to sell their animals one by one - heartbreaking for his son. Reuters spoke to six families of herders in Najaf province who all said they have had to sell animals or have had livestock die over the last months.

Persons: Mustafa Ahmed, Ahmed Abdul Hussein Organizations: Reuters Locations: Najaf, Iraq, Persian, Mishkhab

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