Brian Bouffard told FMT that his client and Farik have reached an agreement for the plea, and sentencing has been scheduled for January next year.

“Nazir will humbly accept responsibility for his role in the offences that he, Farik and Hambali (an Indonesian national also known as Encep Nurjaman) have been charged with.

“Sentencing is scheduled in the window of Jan 15 to Feb 2 next year.

“Nazir is not the same person he was 20 years ago. None of us are,” he said in an email reply.

Bouffard also confirmed that the cases of Farik, 48, and Nazir, 46, have been separated from that of Hambali, which will go for trial.

The two Malaysians together with Hambali, who is said to be the mastermind of the attacks, have been held in solitary confinement since their arrest in Thailand in 2003.

They were kept in CIA secret prisons and transferred to Guantanamo, Cuba three years later.

They were first charged in 2018 for nine offences linked to their alleged roles in the 2002 bombings of nightclubs in Bali that killed 202 people and 11 deaths in the 2003 Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta.

All three were charged with conspiracy, attempted murder, murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, terrorism, destruction of property, and attacking civilians and civilian objects. The maximum punishment in the case is life in prison.

However, the trial was postponed several times after all three detainees refused to enter a plea, citing bias and the incompetence of the government-appointed Malay and Indonesian interpreters.

Last week, the New York Times reported that Hambali will face trial for the offences alone, adding that the military disclosed the existence of the deal with the release of a court filing by prosecutors and lawyers for the Malaysians.

It said the terms of the plea agreement were under seal, including any limits on their prison sentence.

The report added that Malaysian diplomats visited Guantanamo Bay last month, citing US officials and local news reports.