U.S. asks court to stop plea agreements in alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's case

The U.S. government has filed a motion seeking to stop a military tribunal from accepting the plea agreements offered to three men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. 

The Justice Department filed its motion in the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday, asking the court to prohibit the war tribunal in Guantanamo Bay from moving forward with the plea agreements negotiated last summer. Government attorneys also asked the appeals court to stay the proceedings — including a plea hearing for the attacks' alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed set for Friday — while the request is considered. 

"The allegations against the respondents set forth their extensive roles as the counselors, commanders, and conspirators in the murder of 2,976 people, the injury of numerous civilians and military personnel, and the destruction of property worth tens of billions of dollars," the filing said, arguing later that "this Court should issue a writ of mandamus and prohibition to the military commission directing it to recognize that the Secretary validly withdrew from the pretrial agreements with the respondents and prohibiting the military commission from conducting hearings in which the respondents would enter guilty pleas pursuant to the invalid pretrial agreements."