US 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.Mr Austin wrote in an order released on Friday that "in light of the significance of the decision", he had decided that the authority to decide on accepting the plea agreements was his.He nullified the agreements.The move comes two days after the military commiss

US 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.Mr Austin wrote in an order released on Friday that "in light of the significance of the decision", he had decided that the authority to decide on accepting the plea agreements was his.He nullified the agreements.The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced it had reached plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices in the attacks.Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, were expected to enter the pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week.Pentagon officials declined to release the terms of the initial plea bargain.The New York Times, citing unidentified Pentagon officials, said the terms included the men's lo