The plea deals with the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and two other defendants have been withdrawn, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday. On Wednesday, the US Department of Defense said it had reached a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-accused. However, “in light of the significance of the decision,” Austin had decided “the responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” he wrote in a memorandum to Susan Escallier, the convening authority of military commissions. “I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that y…