US defence secretary Lloyd Austin overrides plea agreement with 9/11 defendants

A 2008 courtroom drawing by artist Janet Hamlin of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, centre, and co-defendant Walid Bin Attash, left, attending a pre-trial session at Guantanamo Bay (Janet Hamlin/PA)

Defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants.

The cases have been reinstated as death penalty cases.