Majid Khan set to plead guilty, granted a commuted sentence

Khan still expected receive a sentence in excess of 25 years.

GUANTANAMO BAY/CUBA: The defense and prosecution have filed a joint motion at the military commission that details a plea bargain deal, first reported by the Washington Post, struck by Pakistan-detainee Majid Khan’s lawyers with the prosecution.

The document, filed on February 17, was made public hours before Khan is due to appear at a military commission, asks the military judge to recommend a minimum sentence of “no less than 25 years confinement”.

They have also asked that the maximum sentence awarded to 32-year-old Majid Khan be no more than 40 years of confinement.

The prosecution and defense have also asked that the military judge “enter a docketing order setting a date of sentencing approximately four years from the date that the Military Judge accepts the Accused's guilty plea.” The motion details that both parties signed a pretrial agreement on February 13, 2012.  As part of his plea bargain deal, Khan is expected to co-operate with the authorities and testify in other cases.

Khan, who was a resident of Baltimore, has been accused of plotting to assassinate the former President Pervez Musharraf, financing a bomb blast in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2003, and plotting with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad to carry out terrorist attacks in the U.S post-9/11. He turned 32 a day before his appearance at the military commission.

Khan was arrested in Karachi in 2003, and was revealed to be at Guantanamo Bay in 2006. He has, according to media reports, tried to commit suicide twice since he arrived at the infamous detention facility.

His charge sheet cites, "Between about January 4,2002 and about March 21, 2002, in or near Karachi, Pakistan, Khan told Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that he was willing to conduct a suicide attack against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. At Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's direction, Khan recorded a "martyr video," wore an explosive vest and sat in a Mosque waiting for President Musharraf to arrive."

He is also accused of helping finance the Marriott Hotel bomb blast in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2003. He has also been accused of plotting attacks in the United States with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad post 9/11, which involved bombing gas stations in the US.