Plea deal with accused 9/11 plotters has been canceled.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has canceled pre-trial agreements with those accused of plotting the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In a memo Friday, Mr. Austin also said he would revoke the authority of the military court-martial officer who signed the agreement on Wednesday.

The initial deal, which was supposed to spare the attackers the death penalty, was criticized by some victims’ families.

The memorandum names five defendants, including the alleged ringleader of the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, all of whom are being held at Guantanamo Bay. The original agreement named three men.

“I have determined that, given the importance of the decision to enter into a pretrial agreement with the defendant… the responsibility for such a decision must rest with me as the superior officer,” Austin wrote to Brigadier General Susan Escallier.

“I hereby revoke your authority. Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements.”

The White House said Wednesday that it played no role in the plea deal.

The five men named in the memorandum are: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, commonly known as KSM, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi; and two others not mentioned in the original request: Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.

The men were held for decades without trial. All allege they were tortured — KSM was subjected to simulated drowning, known as “waterboarding,” 183 times before it was banned by the US government.

All endured more than a decade of pre-trial proceedings, complicated by allegations and evidence of torture against them.

Some family members of the victims have criticized the terms of the deal signed Wednesday as too lenient.

Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, which represents survivors and relatives of victims, told the BBC earlier this week that families were “very concerned about these plea deals”.

Terry Strada, who lost her husband Tom, told the BBC’s Today programme: “It’s heartbreaking to hear today that there’s a plea deal that will see the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay get what they wanted.”

A lawyer at Guantanamo representing Mr. Mohammed said New York Times that he was shocked by this sudden change.

“If the defence minister has issued such an order, I am deeply disappointed that after all these years the government has not learned the lessons from this case,” said lawyer Gary Sowards.

“And the harm that results comes from disregarding due process and fair play.”

The men were charged with a variety of crimes, including attacks on civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking and terrorism.

In September, the Biden administration reportedly rejected the terms of a plea deal with five men detained at a US Navy base in Cuba, including Mohammed.

The men are said to have asked the president for assurances that they would not be held incommunicado and would receive treatment for their injuries.

KSM is accused of giving al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden the idea of ​​hijacking planes and flying them into buildings. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 along with Hawsawi, a Saudi accused of being a fundraiser.

Ali, a computer scientist and KSM’s nephew, is accused of providing technical support for the 9/11 operation.

Bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni, is accused of coordinating the attacks and planning to become a hijacker but was unable to obtain a visa to enter the United States.

Bin Attash, also a Yemeni, is accused of bombing the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, which killed 17 sailors, and of being linked to the September 11 attacks.

Some Republicans have applauded the defense secretary for scrapping the deal.

“The Biden-Harris administration was right to reverse course,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said, adding that the move came after Republicans “launched an investigation into this horrific plea deal.”

“Now let’s deliver long-awaited justice to the families of the victims of 9/11,” he said.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said the decision “demonstrated sound judgment.”

“The previous plea agreement would have sent the wrong signal to terrorists around the world,” he added.

Earlier on Friday, Republican House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers asked Austin to answer how the deal was reached.

“This agreement demonstrates a willingness to negotiate with terrorists who seek to harm Americans,” he wrote in a letter to the defense secretary.

The September 11 attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania sparked the “War on Terror” and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

It was the deadliest attack on US soil since Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941, which killed 2,400 people.