WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants, reinstating them as death penalty cases.

The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced it had reached plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in the attacks.

Lloyd Austin wrote 'in light of the significance of the decision,' he decided the authority to decide on accepting the agreements was his{ai:summary}<p>In a twist worthy of a noir novel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pulled the rug from under a plea deal for the mind behind 9/11. Just days after Guantanamo's military commission struck a deal, the specter of the death penalty looms larger than ever.</p><p>The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they still turn, erasing a momentary reprieve for the accused architects of terror. #crime</p>

U.S. defense secretary nullifies plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind, two other defendants

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