9/11 'architect' loses plea deal case after it's blocked by Biden administration

The three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it needed more time to weigh the case, ordering proceedings to be put on hold.

The decision marks the latest twist in the 22-year saga since Mohammed's capture in 2003.

The proposed plea agreement, negotiated over two years, would have seen Mohammed and two co-defendants receive life sentences without parole instead of facing the death penalty.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has strongly opposed the deal, maintaining that decisions about capital punishment for such grave attacks should rest solely with him.

Austin attempted to revoke the agreements in August after they were approved by military prosecutors and a senior Pentagon official. A military judge and appeals panel initially rejected Austin's intervention, prompting the Biden administration to take the case to the federal appeals court.

The case has been mired in legal and logistical challenges for 17 years, with no trial date ever being set. One of the biggest obstacles has been the admissibility of evidence, given Mohammed's treatment in CIA custody.

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Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding 183 times whilst held in secret CIA prisons following his arrest. He also endured other "advanced interrogation techniques" including sleep deprivation and forced nudity.

The torture of Mohammed and other defendants has complicated the prosecution's case, potentially making their subsequent statements inadmissible in court. Elizabeth Miller, who lost her firefighter father in the attacks, expressed disappointment at the decision from Guantanamo Bay.

"It's very upsetting," said Miller, who leads a group of 9/11 families supporting the plea agreements. She sees the deals as "the best way for families to receive finality".

However, Gordon Haberman, whose daughter Andrea was killed at the World Trade Center, welcomed the delay. "If this leads to a full trial for these guys, then I'm in favour of that," he said.

Stephan Gerhardt, whose brother Ralph died in the attacks, had flown to Guantanamo Bay to witness Mohammed's expected guilty plea.

The appeals court has set January 22 as the deadline for both sides to file written arguments, meaning the case will extend into the second Trump administration.

Defence lawyers had hoped to finalise the pleas before President-elect Trump's January 20 inauguration. It remains unclear whether Trump would seek to intervene in the military commission's work once in office.

The Justice Department argued that accepting the guilty pleas would deny the government a chance for a public trial and the opportunity to seek capital punishment for "a heinous act of mass murder".

The court emphasised that its stay order should not be viewed as a final ruling on the matter.