US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin

on Friday nullified a

plea agreement

for the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks,

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

, reinstating the

death penalty

option for him and two other defendants, as per Associated Press.
“In light of the significance of the decision, I have determined that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements is mine,”

Austin

wrote in an order released Friday night, thereby nullifying the agreements.

The decision came just days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced it had reached plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Under the agreements, the three would have received

life sentences

.
The letters sent to the families of nearly 3,000 victims stated that the plea agreement would result in life sentences for the accused, sparking outrage among some relatives. Many criticised the deal for eliminating the possibility of full trials and death penalties. Republicans swiftly blamed the

Biden administration

for the agreement, although the

White House

claimed it was unaware of the arrangement.

Mohammed and the other defendants anticipated formally entering their pleas under the deal as early as next week. The US military commission, which has been handling the cases of five defendants involved in the

September 11 attacks

, has been bogged down in pre-trial hearings and preliminary court actions since 2008.