Defense secretary revokes plea deal with accused 9/11 plotters

In a startling reversal of a decision made just 48 hours earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked plea deals reached with three accused plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, including the alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Austin also removed the head of the U.S. military commissions — who on Wednesday had approved the settlement agreements — from the 9/11 case, which has been mired in legal quagmire for two decades and is widely considered unlikely ever to go to trial.

Austin's surprise announcement, made Friday night, cancels plea bargains that would have allowed the three men to avoid a death-penalty trial by pleading guilty to conspiracy and murder charges in return for sentences of up to life in prison.