The long-awaited legal proceedings for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks - were once again delayed this week.
Mohammed, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay since his capture in 2003, was expected to plead guilty to all charges this week in exchange for a deal that would spare him from facing the death penalty.
However, just as the plea was set to be entered, a federal appeals court intervened, ordering a pause in the proceedings to review the plea agreement reached between Mohammed's legal team and U.S. prosecutors. The decision follows a late-stage appeal by the prosecution, which argued that allowing the deal to move forward would have "irreparable" consequences for both the U.S. government and the American public.
This latest delay has left victims' families, who had traveled to the base to witness the proceedings, in a state of frustration. Many had already made extensive travel arrangements, including securing child care and pet care, only to learn that the plea hearing would not take place as scheduled.
For Elizabeth Miller, whose father died in the 9/11 attacks, the ongoing delays are "like a perpetual limbo," as she put it. While she supports the plea deal as a way to bring closure, she acknowledges the emotional toll the continuous postponements have taken on the families who lost loved ones in the attacks.
The delay comes amid a wider debate about the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, established in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks as part of the U.S. "War on Terror." Although the number of detainees has dwindled significantly in recent years, the facility continues to face criticism for its treatment of prisoners and its role in controversial military tribunals.
