Majid Khan, Guantanamo Bay detainee, to enter plea deal

Majid Khan, who was raised in America, will plead guilty at a Guantanamo war crimes tribunal on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Khan will admit that he was an Al Qaeda operative and will help prosecute other terrorism suspects in exchange for leniency. His lawyers are asking for a sentence of 25 to 40 years, but he is likely to serve far less under the plea deal, said Reuters.

Khan, who attended high school in Baltimore, will plead guilty to conspiracy and attempted murder charges in connection with a plan to blow up fuel tanks in the US.

Some of the specific charges against Khan include delivering $50,000 from Al Qaeda to a group that bombed the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, and strapping a fake bomb vest to himself in an assassination attempt against former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, according to Reuters.

Politico noted that the plea deal would mean that Khan’s sentencing would be delayed by four years, while he testified against other Guantanamo inmates.

The delay is highly unusual, according to former chief military commissions officer and retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis who told Politico, “I've never in 28 years of military legal practice–never seen one deferred for years….To the extent these things are supposed to be modeled on court-martial practice, it's certainly an anomaly.”

It is unknown whether Khan will be called to testify against the self-proclaimed mastermind behind 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, said the Associated Press.

Khan is one of the first “high value” prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to be convicted.

The plea deal and other evidence in the case are sealed from the public.