The accused in the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack have entered into a plea deal with the investigation - they will not face the death penalty

The main accused in the organisation of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two of his accomplices have entered into a deal with US military prosecutors that will see them avoid the death penalty and the US justice system avoid a gruelling trial.

Source. This was reported by the BBC with reference to the American press.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Mohammed Salih Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi have been held in a camp at the US base of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for all these years.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003, and in 2008 he was charged with numerous counts, including the main one – the murder of 2796 people on 11 September 2001, when two passenger planes hijacked by suicide bombers rammed into the World Trade Centre towers in New York, one crashed into the Pentagon building near Washington, and another crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

The Pentagon announced the plea deal without explaining its terms, but the New York Times learned that the defendants agreed to plead guilty and receive life in prison instead of the death penalty.

The case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his accomplices has been stuck at the pre-trial stage for years due to controversy over the torture the defendants suffered during the early stages of the investigation.

"The US was trying to decide how to deal with the issue of torture against Mohammed and others in secret CIA prisons in the 2000s. Because of this, prosecutors were faced with the question of whether testimony obtained under torture was admissible in court," CNN explains.

Mohammed, according to the press, was tortured, in particular, by simulated drowning.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 59, was born in Pakistan, lived in Arab countries, studied in the United States, and fought in Afghanistan against Soviet troops.

The US investigation claims that it was he who suggested to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that he should ram hijacked airliners into skyscrapers in the US, and then participated in the selection and training of some of the suicide bombers.

Rear Admiral Aaron Rugg, the lead prosecutor in the case, admitted to the victims' relatives that the decision to plea bargain was not an easy one, but that he believes it is the best way to achieve justice.