Getty ImagesUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a pre-trial agreement reached with men accused of plotting the 11 September terrorist attacks.
In a memo on Friday, Mr Austin also said he was revoking the authority of the officer overseeing the court who signed the agreement on Wednesday.
The original deal, which would reportedly have spared the alleged attackers the death penalty, was criticised by some families of victims.
The memo named five defendants including the alleged ringleader of the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The original deal named three men.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused… responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior authority,” Mr Austin wrote to Brig Gen Susan Escallier.
“I hereby withdraw your authority. Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements.”
The White House said on Wednesday that it had played no role in the plea deal.
Mr Austin named five men in the plea deal: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi; and two others not mentioned in the original plea: Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.
Several family members had criticised the terms of the deal, which were not publicly released, as too lenient.
Brett Eagleson, the president of 9/11 Justice, which represents survivors and relatives of victims, had told the BBC earlier this week that the families were “deeply troubled by these plea deals”.
Terry Strada, who lost her husband Tom, told the BBC’s Today Programme: “It was a gut-punch to hear that there was a plea deal today that was giving the detainees in Guantanamo Bay what they want.”
The men have been accused of a litany of charges, including attacking civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking and terrorism.
In September, the Biden administration reportedly rejected the terms of a plea deal with five men held at the US Navy base in Cuba, including Mohammed.
The men had reportedly sought a guarantee from the president that they would not be kept in solitary confinement and would have access to trauma treatment.
Getty ImagesRepublicans were quick to attack the Biden administration on Wednesday when the deal was published by military prosecutors.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the move as “a revolting abdication” from providing justice. “The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody,” he said.
The 9/11 attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania sparked the “War on Terror” and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
They were the deadliest assault on US soil since the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where 2,400 people were killed.