Judge rules Guantanamo plea deals revoked by Pentagon were valid, NYT reports

PHOTO CAPTION: Chain link fence and concertina wire surrounds a deserted guard tower within Joint Task Force Guantanamo's Camp Delta at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

(Reuters) - Plea deals agreed with the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks and two accomplices held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were valid, according to a judge's ruling reported by the New York Times on Wednesday regarding agreements that had been revoked by the Pentagon.

On July 31, the Pentagon said plea deals had been entered into with the trio, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, but two days later, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded them.

Austin "acted too late and beyond the scope of his authority", the New York Times reported, citing a decision by a military judge.



(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Caitlin Webber)