9/11 hearings at Guantanamo Bay in upheaval after surprise order by US defense chief

Military-run hearings for accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are in upheaval following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to throw out a plea agreement. Defense attorneys contend the plea deal still stands and suspended participation in the pre-trial hearings while legal challenges to Austin’s action play out. The judge overseeing the case acknowledged concerns over outside pressure on the case. The events of the past week are the latest significant disruption of the U.S. military prosecution of defendants accused in the 2001 killings of nearly 3,000 people, in an al-Qaida plot.