Over the years, the case had become bogged down in lengthy pre-trial proceedings. Defence lawyers had argued that the men’s torture in secret CIA prisons had rendered the evidence against them unusable in legal proceedings.

The deal avoids both the prospect of a hugely lengthy and complex trial, or the possibility that confessions seen as crucial to the case would be thrown out. The New York Times reported that news of the deal emerged in a letter from prosecutors to family members of victims of the devastating attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.

Mohammed and Hawsawi were captured together in Pakistan in March 2003. The pair were tortured by their US interrogators, including subjecting Mohammed to a record 183 rounds of waterboarding. - Guardian