Briefly

UNITED STATES

Plea deal with 9/11 mastermind reached

The man accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and two of his accomplices, held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have agreed to plead guilty, the Pentagon said on Wednesday without elaborating. The New York Times reported that Mohammed, along with Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for a life sentence instead of a trial, which could lead to the death penalty. Such a proposal was detailed by prosecutors last year but divided the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, with some still wanting the defendants to face the ultimate penalty.