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The
five defendants, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al Qaeda
militant accused by the U.S. of being the principal architect of
the attacks, have been offered a plea agreement by prosecutors
that would spare them the death penalty in exchange for
admitting guilt and a life prison term, the Times reported.
But the defendants have responded with a list conditions,
including that they not serve their life sentences in solitary
confinement and would be allowed to eat and pray with other
inmates, the newspaper said.
The White House confirmed that Biden concurred with Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin's recommendation not to accept the
conditions, known as joint policy principles, as a basis for
plea talks.
"The 9/11 attacks were the single worst assault on the United
States since Pearl Harbor. The president does not believe that
accepting the joint policy principles as a basis for a pre-trial
agreement would be appropriate in these circumstances," a White
House spokesperson said in an email.
"The administration is committed to ensuring that the military
commissions process is fair and delivers justice to the victims,
survivors, families, and those accused of crimes," he said.
More than 3,000 people were killed in the hijacked plane attacks
by al Qaeda militants using four commercial airline jets, flying
two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in
New York City.
The militants crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in
Washington, D.C. The fourth plane went down in rural
Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Dan Whitcomb; editing by Grant
McCool)
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