The US Department of Defense says it has reached a plea deal with alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants accused of plotting the 2001 terror attacks.
The plea agreement avoids what would have been a long and complicated death penalty trial against Mohammed.
After 27 months of negotiations, the three men agreed to plead guilty to all charges, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charging sheet.
Mohammed and his co-defendants will enter guilty pleas at a plea hearing that could come as early as next week, according to the letter.
The government faced the difficult challenge of advancing a case that had stalled over the course of the two decades since Mohammed's capture in Pakistan in 2003 for his alleged involvement in the terror attacks.
The trial was set to begin on January 11, 2021, but delays brought about by the resignation of two judges and the coronavirus pandemic pushed the date back.
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