US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Tuesday (Aug 6) that the families of the victims and the American public have the right to witness the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, along with the other defendants.
The plea deals with 9/11 mastermind Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced on July 31, which sparked anger among the relatives and families of those killed on September 11, 2001.
Also, it drew criticism from leading Republican politicians, following which the US Defence Chief Austin scrapped the deal two days later.
"The families of the victims, our service members, and the American public deserve the opportunity to witness the military commission trials being conducted in this case," Austin told journalists during a news conference in Annapolis on Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody."
Additionally, some of the victims' families were also distraught that the men accused of killing their loved ones had made a plea with the US government and effectively sidestepped the death penalty.
The cases against those accused of the 9/11 attacks have been subject to protracted pre-trial processes, with the defendants continuously incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.
The terms of the deals were not made public, but according to the New York Times reports Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for life imprisonment, avoiding a potential death penalty trial.
Much of the legal wrangling centred on the defendants' claims of unfair trial due to CIA torture inflicted post-9/11. The plea agreements offered a way to circumvent this complex issue.
The three men have been accused of a litany of charges, including attacking civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking and terrorism.
According to reports, the Biden administration had reportedly rejected the terms of a plea in September last year. The 9/11 attack was the deadliest assault on the US since the World War II when the Japanese attacked the Pearl Harbour in Hawaii in 1941, killing 2,400 people.
(With inputs from agencies)