US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin has revoked a plea deal for three men accused of being involved in the 9/11 attacks, according to a memo sent to the Susan Escallier, who is overseeing the war court proceedings.

The short-lived deal came 16 years after prosecution of the three men began.

On Wednesday, Escallier announced that she signed a deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the attack, and two of his accomplices: Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi.

In exchange for the trio’s guilty pleas they would be sentenced to life in prison, the New York Times reported.

Austin argues that due to the “significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority,” the memo reads.

More details to follow …