Accipiter22
Banned
well I didn't see that coming...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/27/moussaoui/index.html
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui told a stunned courtroom Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth plane on September 11, 2001, and crash it into the White House.
In a day of bombshell revelations, Moussaoui also admitted that he knew about al Qaeda's plot to hijack planes and fly them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
"I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit, but I did not have the details," Moussaoui told jurors after taking the witness stand in his own defense.
Moussaoui said that while he didn't know the "precise date to the day" of the planned terrorist attacks, he knew they would come after his arrest in August 2001 in Minnesota. He said he made sure he had a radio in his jail cell.
When the first news reports on September 11 described a fire at the trade center, Moussaoui said, "I immediately understood."
Moussaoui told jurors, as he admitted last year, that he would have tried to fly into the White House on a fifth hijacked plane.
In an extraordinary revelation, Moussaoui named Reid as one of his team members.
Reid was subdued by passengers in December 2001 when he attempted to set off a bomb in his shoe on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely and Reid was arrested. He is serving a life prison term.
Reid has written Moussaoui at least once during their incarceration.
Courtroom packed
The courtroom was packed and silent as Moussaoui took the stand wearing a white Muslim skull cap and a green jail uniform with the word "prisoner" printed on the back. Half a dozen 9/11 family members occupied the courtroom's third row and the jurors sat at attention, their pens and notepads poised.
There were no dramatic outbursts and no speeches. Instead, Moussaoui spoke in moderate, even soft tones. Within 30 minutes, he had undone more than four years of his defense team's work.
Under questioning by one of his attorneys, Gerald Zerkin, Moussaoui dispelled the idea that he was intended to be the 20th hijacker on September 11 -- the missing fifth man on United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
But Moussaoui said he knew the Lebanese pilot of that plane, Ziad Jarrah, from Afghanistan, where the two men had conversed in French.
Moussaoui also admitted knowing lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta. He said he knew Atta was "big time" because he saw him frequently in Afghanistan in the company of al Qaeda operations leader Khalid Shaiykh Mohammed.
Moussaoui said he spent a total of three and half years in al Qaeda camps and became a specialist in using household explosives.
His English fluency and his French passport made him "special" to al Qaeda, he said, insisting he was only an "intermediate" player.
Moussaoui said he initially declined when the group's military leader, Mohammed Atef, asked in 1999 if he was interested in hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings.
Agreed to martyrdom
The next year, he said, he agreed to the martyrdom mission.
Moussaoui admitted his "dream," sanctioned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, to crash a plane into the White House when he pleaded guilty 11 months ago to joining the conspiracy. But at that time, he said his White House attack was to follow 9/11.
He testified Monday that his knowledge of the conspiracy was compartmentalized and that he had "specific involvement only for my own plane."
Moussaoui took the stand Monday over the objections of his defense team. He said he had been waiting four years to tell his story.
Objecting to his client's testimony, Zerkin said, "I would suggest he does not recognize the authority of the court." Under his al Qaeda training, the lawyer added, Moussaoui believes it is "okay to lie to the court."
Prosecutors said it would be an error to prevent him from testifying, and Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed, saying, "He has an absolute right to testify."
She then told Moussaoui, "You must promise to the court that you will tell the truth."
Moussaoui responded, "Yes, I can."
Prosecutors have said Moussaoui, 37, a French citizen of Moroccan heritage deserves to die, claiming that if he had not lied after his arrest, investigators could have uncovered the September 11 conspiracy.
When Zerkin asked Moussaoui why he lied, Moussaoui replied, "Because I am al Qaeda."
"The Prophet says, 'war is deceit,' " Moussaoui later told prosecutor Robert Spencer. "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy."
After Moussaoui testifies, the defense plans to present statements from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the conspiracy, plot facilitator Ramzi Binalshibh and other top al Qaeda detainees being held as "enemy combatants" at undisclosed military locations overseas.
The jury will hear written substitutions for their live testimony.
The only question for the jury is whether Moussaoui will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.
To condemn him to death, the jury must agree that Moussaoui committed an act that contributed to at least one of the 2,793 deaths on September 11. On that day, 19 of his al Qaeda confederates hijacked and crashed four passenger jets.
Prosecutors contend Moussaoui's lies to federal agents who arrested him in mid-August 2001 after he aroused suspicions at a Minnesota flight school furthered the plot.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/27/moussaoui/index.html
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui told a stunned courtroom Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth plane on September 11, 2001, and crash it into the White House.
In a day of bombshell revelations, Moussaoui also admitted that he knew about al Qaeda's plot to hijack planes and fly them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
"I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit, but I did not have the details," Moussaoui told jurors after taking the witness stand in his own defense.
Moussaoui said that while he didn't know the "precise date to the day" of the planned terrorist attacks, he knew they would come after his arrest in August 2001 in Minnesota. He said he made sure he had a radio in his jail cell.
When the first news reports on September 11 described a fire at the trade center, Moussaoui said, "I immediately understood."
Moussaoui told jurors, as he admitted last year, that he would have tried to fly into the White House on a fifth hijacked plane.
In an extraordinary revelation, Moussaoui named Reid as one of his team members.
Reid was subdued by passengers in December 2001 when he attempted to set off a bomb in his shoe on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely and Reid was arrested. He is serving a life prison term.
Reid has written Moussaoui at least once during their incarceration.
Courtroom packed
The courtroom was packed and silent as Moussaoui took the stand wearing a white Muslim skull cap and a green jail uniform with the word "prisoner" printed on the back. Half a dozen 9/11 family members occupied the courtroom's third row and the jurors sat at attention, their pens and notepads poised.
There were no dramatic outbursts and no speeches. Instead, Moussaoui spoke in moderate, even soft tones. Within 30 minutes, he had undone more than four years of his defense team's work.
Under questioning by one of his attorneys, Gerald Zerkin, Moussaoui dispelled the idea that he was intended to be the 20th hijacker on September 11 -- the missing fifth man on United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
But Moussaoui said he knew the Lebanese pilot of that plane, Ziad Jarrah, from Afghanistan, where the two men had conversed in French.
Moussaoui also admitted knowing lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta. He said he knew Atta was "big time" because he saw him frequently in Afghanistan in the company of al Qaeda operations leader Khalid Shaiykh Mohammed.
Moussaoui said he spent a total of three and half years in al Qaeda camps and became a specialist in using household explosives.
His English fluency and his French passport made him "special" to al Qaeda, he said, insisting he was only an "intermediate" player.
Moussaoui said he initially declined when the group's military leader, Mohammed Atef, asked in 1999 if he was interested in hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings.
Agreed to martyrdom
The next year, he said, he agreed to the martyrdom mission.
Moussaoui admitted his "dream," sanctioned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, to crash a plane into the White House when he pleaded guilty 11 months ago to joining the conspiracy. But at that time, he said his White House attack was to follow 9/11.
He testified Monday that his knowledge of the conspiracy was compartmentalized and that he had "specific involvement only for my own plane."
Moussaoui took the stand Monday over the objections of his defense team. He said he had been waiting four years to tell his story.
Objecting to his client's testimony, Zerkin said, "I would suggest he does not recognize the authority of the court." Under his al Qaeda training, the lawyer added, Moussaoui believes it is "okay to lie to the court."
Prosecutors said it would be an error to prevent him from testifying, and Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed, saying, "He has an absolute right to testify."
She then told Moussaoui, "You must promise to the court that you will tell the truth."
Moussaoui responded, "Yes, I can."
Prosecutors have said Moussaoui, 37, a French citizen of Moroccan heritage deserves to die, claiming that if he had not lied after his arrest, investigators could have uncovered the September 11 conspiracy.
When Zerkin asked Moussaoui why he lied, Moussaoui replied, "Because I am al Qaeda."
"The Prophet says, 'war is deceit,' " Moussaoui later told prosecutor Robert Spencer. "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy."
After Moussaoui testifies, the defense plans to present statements from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the conspiracy, plot facilitator Ramzi Binalshibh and other top al Qaeda detainees being held as "enemy combatants" at undisclosed military locations overseas.
The jury will hear written substitutions for their live testimony.
The only question for the jury is whether Moussaoui will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.
To condemn him to death, the jury must agree that Moussaoui committed an act that contributed to at least one of the 2,793 deaths on September 11. On that day, 19 of his al Qaeda confederates hijacked and crashed four passenger jets.
Prosecutors contend Moussaoui's lies to federal agents who arrested him in mid-August 2001 after he aroused suspicions at a Minnesota flight school furthered the plot.
