Zacarias Moussaoui

File:Zacarias Moussaoui2.jpg

Moussaoui mugshot

Zacarias Moussaoui (Arabic: زكريا موسوي) (born May 30, 1968) is a French citizen of Moroccan descent, who has testified that he was involved in the conspiracy that resulted in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 16, 2001 after attending a flight school in Eagan, Minnesota where an instructor expressed concerns about the abilities and motivations of his student. After the attacks unfolded, he was described as a possible "20th hijacker". He is the only person in the United States to have been charged in connection with the September 11 attacks. On May 3, 2006, a jury recommended that he be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; such sentence was officially handed down on May 4. According to the Associated Press, three jurors decided Moussaoui had only limited knowledge of the September 11 plot, and three described his role in the attacks as minor, if he had any role at all.

Overview

Moussaoui is said to have been a replacement for the "first" 20th hijacker, possibly Ramzi Binalshibh (bin al-Shibh), a member of the Hamburg cell. Binalshibh and Zakariyah Essabar were denied visas to the US, so the men allegedly scrambled to find another man to fill the spot. He followed a path similar to others known to have been involved, such as visiting terrorist training camps in the Middle East, purchasing knives while in the U.S., and attending some of the same flight schools. However, prosecutors in Moussaoui's drawn-out trial had difficulty directly connecting him to the 19 participants.

The case was seen in some circles as a barometer of the ability and willingness of the United States to give a fair hearing to terrorism suspects. Others objected to the degree to which the court and especially Judge Leonie Brinkema tolerated the bizarre and threatening courtroom behavior of Moussaoui. Moussaoui expressed contempt for the trial and court by introducing legal motions deriding Judge Brinkema, surprised onlookers by electing to represent himself in court, and rankled the federal prosecutors by requesting the presence of captured Al-Qaeda members as witnesses in his case. Over the course of the proceedings, Moussaoui admitted his guilt in various degrees and of being a member of Al Qaeda.

During the trial, Moussaoui initially stated that he was not involved in the September 11 attacks, but that he was planning an attack of his own. Some Al-Qaeda members reportedly corroborated Moussaoui's statement to an extent, saying that he was involved in a plot other than September 11, but prosecutors believed that his story had no merit. On April 3, 2006, Moussaoui was found to be eligible for the death penalty. Before leaving the courtroom, he was reported to have shouted, "You will never get my blood. God curse you all!" He later recanted his qualifications and again admitted guilt on all charges levied by the prosecution.

On May 4, 2006, Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole. After a jury had decided against the death penalty for him on the previous day, Moussaoui, as he was led out of the courtroom, clapped his hands and said: "America, you lost..... I won."[1] Judge Brinkema responded by telling him that he would "die with a whimper" and "never get a chance to speak again."[2]

Personal history

Childhood

Moussaoui's mother, Aicha el-Wafi, was 14 when she was married in Morocco. Five years later, his parents moved to France, where he was born. After enduring domestic violence, his mother left his father while her four children were still young. She raised her children on a cleaning woman's salary. There was no religious education within the family. As first generation immigrants from Morocco, they frequently faced racism, including violence and theft. At school he loved sports, especially basketball. He experienced life as a series of disappointments, being unable to pursue sports in his teens. The family moved between different parts of France, worsening his alienation.

Militant training

Moussaoui is known by other names, reportedly including Abu Khaled al Sahrawi and Shaqil while he was in Oklahoma[3]. He holds a master's degree in International Business from South Bank University in London. He made his initial steps into radical indoctrination in Brixton Mosque, where he met future "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, though he was expelled from the mosque after he turned up wearing combat fatigues and a backpack, and pressured the cleric to give him information on joining the jihad. It is possible that he also had connections with members of the Finsbury Park mosque, where the extremist Abu Hamza held lessons.

French authorities began monitoring Moussaoui in 1996 when they observed him with Islamic extremists in London. In 1998, he attended the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan, allegedly returning the next year as well. In September 2000, he visited Malaysia and stayed in a condominium owned by Yazid Sufaat who, in October 2000, signed letters identifying Moussaoui as a representative of his company. Two of the September 11 hijackers lived in the condo in January 2000. Jemaah Islamiah leader Riduan Ismauddin sent cohort Yazid Sufaat to provide Moussaoui with $35,000 and travel documents in Malaysia in October.

Flight training

From February 26 to May 29, 2001, Moussaoui attended flight training courses at Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma. Despite more than 50 hours of flying lessons, he did not pass and left without a Private Pilot License. This school was visited by Mohamed Atta al-Sayed and Marwan al-Shehhi, who piloted planes into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, respectively. Atta and al-Shehhi took their pilot training at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida.

During his time in Norman Oklahoma, Moussaoui had a roommate named Hussein al-Attas. On August 11, 2001 Hussein al-Attas drove Moussaoui to Minnesota from Oklahoma [4]. Hussein al-Attas said that he and Moussaoui had planned to take a trip to New York City in late August/Early September 2001. In 2002, al-Attas admitted that he lied to the FBI to conceal Moussaoui's name, lied to the FBI to conceal Moussaoui's jihadi and anti-american beliefs, lied to conceal his own jihadi tendencies, lied to conceal that Moussaoui had been trying to convince him to become more active in the jihad, and lied to conceal the names of other Middle Easterners who were taking flight lessons in Oklahoma [5].

In early August, he allegedly received $14,000 in wire transfers from Binalshibh (originating from Düsseldorf and Hamburg, Germany). This money could have helped him pay for flight training about two weeks later at Pan-Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota. On August 13, Moussaoui paid $6,800 with $100 bills to receive training in a 747-400 simulator. The simulator that Pan-Am uses is operated by Northwest Aerospace Training Corporation (NATCO), a training facility affiliated with Northwest Airlines.

The flight instructor assigned to Moussaoui, Clancy Prevost, began to have suspicions about his student. His behavior largely resembled that of other seemingly wealthy men who had come to the center in the past to receive jumbo jet training despite the fact that they'd probably never use it, but some characteristics were unusual. Prevost said later that in pre-simulator instruction, Moussaoui would ask questions that had the right jargon but were otherwise nonsense. He had read through the 747 training manuals, but had a lack of understanding of the plane's systems. Prevost was confused as to why such a person would seek simulator time. After some convincing, his supervisors contacted the FBI, who came to meet with him. (Despite later reports, Moussaoui didn't avoid the training for takeoff and landing.)

Capture

On August 16, 2001, Moussaoui was arrested by Harry Samit of the FBI in Minnesota and charged with an immigration violation. Some agents worried that his flight training had violent intentions, so the Minnesota bureau tried to get permission to search his laptop computer, but they were turned down. Other materials he had when he was arrested included two knives, 747 flight manuals, a flight simulator computer program, fighting gloves and shin guards, and a computer disk with information about crop dusting.

Leading in that research was agent Coleen Rowley who made an explicit request for permission to search Moussaoui's personal rooms. This request was first cut down by her boss, Deputy General Counsel Marion "Spike" Bowman and later on rejected based upon FISA regulations (amended after 9/11 by the USA PATRIOT Act). Several further attempts failed the very same way. As a result, the chance of finding early evidence passed unused.

FBI watchdog Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, later wrote to FBI Director Robert Mueller:

If the application for the FISA warrant had gone forward, agents would have found information in Moussaoui's belongings that linked him both to a major financier of the hijacking plot working out of Germany, and to a Malaysian al-Qaida boss who had met with at least two other hijackers while under surveillance by intelligence officials.

Court proceedings

On December 11, 2001, Moussaoui was indicted by a federal grand jury in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Moussaoui was indicted on six felony charges: conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy,conspiracy to destroy aircraft, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to murder united states employees, and conspiracy to destroy property [6] The indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui, included supporting conspirators, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh and Mustafa al-Hawsawi for their role in the attack "to murder thousands of innocent people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania."

His trial opened in October 2002 in Alexandria, Virginia under the view of Judge Leonie Brinkema. Moussaoui declined the assistance of his court-appointed attorneys, and asked to defend himself. Brinkema deemed him competent to defend himself and allowed the trial to move forward. Moussaoui later requested the occasional assistance of attorneys to help him with technical issues.

Moussaoui admitted his involvement with al-Qaeda, but claimed he was not involved in the 9/11 attacks. Rather, he claimed that he was preparing for a separate attack. Ramzi Binalshibh, an al-Qaeda leader in U.S. custody and an alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, told investigators that Moussaoui met with him prior to September 11, but Binalshibh chose not to use him. Binalshibh felt that Moussaoui had previously drawn too much attention to himself through a series of flight lessons and inquiries about crop dusting. No evidence directly linking Moussaoui to the 9/11 attacks has been released.

The trial highlighted a tension in the United States between the judiciary and national security. Moussaoui made requests for access to confidential documents and the right to call captive al-Qaeda members as witnesses, notably Binalshibh, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi. Both requests were claimed by prosecutors to be potential threats to national security. Brinkema denied the motion to access confidential documents, although Moussaoui was permitted to use several al-Qaeda prisoners as witnesses.

Brinkema put the death penalty "off limits" on October 2, 2003, in reply to government defiance of her order to provide access to Moussaoui's witnesses. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the Brinkema ruling, holding that the U.S. government could use summaries of interviews/interrogations of these witnesses. On March 21, 2005, the United States Supreme Court denied, without comment, Moussaoui's pre-trial appeal of the Fourth Circuit's decision, returning the case to Brinkema.

On April 22, 2005, in one of the court sessions at the end of the current trial phase, Moussaoui surprised the whole audience by pleading guilty to all of the charges against him, while at the same time denying having any intention to produce a massacre like 9/11. He said that it was not his conspiracy, and that he intended to free sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. According to Moussaoui, his master plan was to hijack a Boeing 747-400, since the plane is one of a few that could reach Afghanistan from the U.S. without any intermediate stops.

On February 6, Moussaoui shouted "I am Al-Qaeda. They do not represent me; they are Americans," referring to his attorneys while being escorted from the courtroom in front of 120 potential jurors.

In March 2006, during the Moussaoui trial, several premises made headlines, including FBI agents stating that the bureau was aware, years before the attacks in 2001, that al-Qaeda planned to use planes to destroy important buildings , and Brinkema's decision to consider dismissal of the death penalty. Brinkema announced her decision in response to a violation of a pretrial order barring witnesses from exposure to any opening statements or trial testimony by the attorney for the Transportation Security Administration, Carla Martin. Martin had sent e-mail to seven Federal Aviation Administration officials describing opening statements of the prosecution and commentary on government witnesses from the start of the testimony , effectively 'coaching the witnesses' . Brinkema said, "In all the years I've been on the bench, I have never seen such an egregious violation of a rule on witnesses," and described the situation as a "significant error by the government affecting the . . . integrity of the criminal justice system of the United States in the context of a death case." However, days later, under significant media attention, Brinkema decided not to dismiss the case, and instead ruled that witnesses may not testify and the government would be allowed to continue to seek the death penalty .

On March 27, 2006, Moussaoui testified that that he and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid had planned to crash a hijacked airplane into the White House in the September 11 attacks. No direct connection between Moussaoui and Reid had ever before been alleged, and this testimony contradicted earlier testimony by Moussaoui that he had been intended for an operation after September 11. When asked why he had previously lied, he stated that "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy." There has been commentary in the mainstream media that Moussaoui's preference to die as an identified 9/11 plotter rather than receive a life sentence as a member of an unrealized scheme throws doubt on his self-admitted connection to 9/11 .

Moussaoui's statements to the court

Moussaoui spent many years refusing court representation and filing confusing, insulting, and parallel court pleadings with his shifting set of court appointed lawyers. Moussaoui's behavior in court was erratic. Records of his pleadings and behavior have included:

• 1/2/2002 Moussaoui: "In the name of Allah I do not have anything to plea and I enter no plea"[7]

• 4/22/2002 Moussaoui fired court-appointed lawyers and defended himself until he found a Muslim lawyer [8]. Speaking to the Judge, Moussaoui stated

Read to the court: Sura Al-i-imran 3:118 SUra AlANfal 8:36 Surah Al-anfal 8:45, Surah Al-i-Imran 3:175; Surah Al Anam 6:162, AL An-am 6:162 as justifications for dropping counsel, proof of corruption of government and judge, proof of innocence, evidence he was taking best possible course of defense.

He then prays to Allah for the return of Andalusia, liberation of Ceuta, Medilla, India, and Kashmir to the Muslims, destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, liberation of Palestine, destruction of Russia, liberation of Chechnya, liberation of Afghanistan, and destruction of the USA.

In response Court orders psychiatric evaluation.

• 6/7/2002 court-appointed psychiatrist declares Moussaoui sufficiently competent for trial.

• 7/11/2002 filed pleading insisting on his competence to stand trial[9]:

"Motion for pre-contempt of Leonie Brinkema order to declare Zacarias Moussaoui crazy"

In it he says he had "try to get the help of the European Court of Justice and Parliaments"

He then offered an analysis of Judge Brinkema:

"'Mental Status enummeration

Axis 1: Acute symptoms of Islamophobia with complex of gender inferiority

Diagnostic Impressions

Legal pathological killer instinct with egomaniac demention to become supreme

Conclusion and Recommendations

Immediate Psychiatric Hospitalization to specialist unit (propose unit UBL treatment center...)"

• 7/18/2002 Moussaoui enters guilty plea: "I have knowledge and I participated in al Qaeda. I am a member of Al Qaeda."... "I pledge bayat to Osama Bin Laden"[10]

Court rejects guilty plea as unconsidered, orders Moussaoui to rethink plea

• 7/24/2002 Moussaoui's Roommate from Oklahoma flight school, Hussein al-Attas, 24, pleads guilty to seven counts of making false statements, including:

"The truth is that on several occasions, during the short time I knew him (Moussaoui) had expressed a general desire to participate in jihad,So my statement to the contrary was false."

"When the agents asked if I (also) knew his real name, I lied and said I did not"[11]

He states he told the FBI that he was going to go to Pakistan to seek medical assistance for a sick relative in Saudi Arabia, but admits "The real reason was (Moussaoui) had convinced me to go to speak to Islamic scholars and others who hold the belief that Islamic religion favors participation in jihad."

He admits to lying about his plans to go with Moussaoui to New York City in late August, 2001

He admitted to lying about some of Moussaoui's classmates at an Oklahoma flight school[12]

• 7/28/2002 Moussaoui pleads guilty to 4 of six counts of conspiracy; denies conspiracy to murder united states employees, and destroy property.

"Today, I truthfully will enter on some of the charges, not all, a plea of guilty,"

"It should not be misunderstood that I endorse the entire indictment. There is enough factual basis for me to plead guilty in a truthful manner" [13]

Court rejects guilty plea as being too informal, reappoints counsel

responding to order to work with appointed counsel Moussaoui states "It is most disgusting."

• 4/22/2003[14] header to pleading

"In the Name of Allah; Censured by the United Sodom of America

4/19/2003; Case No. 01455A; `7 S 1423

Slave of Allah, Zacharias Moussaoui vs.

Slave of Satan, John Ashcroft"

in pleading Judge Brinkema is referred to as Death Judge Leonie

• 7/18/2003 two pleadings with the headers[15]:

"In the Name of Allah; Censured by the United Satan of America

Slave of Allah, Zacharias Moussaoui vs.

Slave of Satan, Bush and Ashcroft "

First Pleading is titled 'Wanted for WTC Bankruptcy' and offers "WTC profit and loss Account" with pleading:

Loss: 3000 sons of evil Profit: 19 slaves of allah

Second Pleading is titled 'No Pig Man Role in Moussaoui Deliverance Scenario'

States "To be seen in all God Fearing World Theatre Cinema

"Deadline for 3000+ hotseat tickets (please contact United Booking Limited"

• 3/21/2006: responding to Al Attas testimony Moussaoui comments,

"God Bless Mohamed Atta." [16]

Additional case filings are posted on the| FindLaw website

Death penalty and sentencing

Moussaoui, charged with conspiring to hijack planes and crash them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, was in jail in Minnesota when the Sept. 11 attacks unfolded. In seeking a death sentence, prosecutors were required to prove that he "intentionally participated in an act…and the victim died as a direct result of the act." This was proven when he admitted he knew about the attacks and did nothing to stop them.

Having entered a guilty plea, Moussaoui was eligible for the death penalty. Germany said it would not release evidence against Moussaoui unless the U.S. promised not to seek death as punishment. On April 27, 2005, French Justice Minister Dominique Perben said, "When France gave elements of informations about Mister Moussaoui to the American justice, I obtained a written engagement of the United States not to use these elements to require or execute the death penalty."

On March 13, 2006, Brinkema recessed the death-penalty case against Moussaoui because of a breach against the rules on witnesses. Seven FAA officials were previously sent emails by TSA attorney Carla Martin outlining the prosecution's opening statements and providing commentary on government witnesses from the first day of testimony. Martin was placed on administrative leave over the incident and may face contempt of court charges. On March 14, 2006, Brinkema ruled that the prosecution could continue to seek the death penalty against Moussaoui, but could not use key witnesses coached by Martin. On April 3, 2006, the jury in his case decided that Moussaoui was eligible for the death penalty.

At Moussaoui's sentencing trial, FBI agent Greg Jones testified that prior to the attacks, he urged his supervisor, Michael Maltbie, "to prevent Zacarias Moussaoui from flying a plane into the World Trade Center." Maltbie had refused to act on 70 requests from another agent, Harry Samit, to obtain a warrant to search Moussaoui's computer.

On May 3, 2006, the jury reached a verdict: that Moussaoui be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Three jurors decided that because Moussaoui had only limited knowledge of the hijackings, he should not be subject to the death penalty. A unanimous decision is needed for a federal death penalty sentence. Moussaoui was sentenced to six consecutive life terms on May 4 , as Judge Brinkema expressed her belief that the sentence was an appropriate one, inasmuch as it would deprive Moussaoui of "martyr[dom] in a great big bang of glory" and of the "chance to speak again", after Moussaoui entered the courtroom proclaiming his victory and asserting that the United States would "never get Osama bin Laden".

Moussaoui will serve his sentence at the maximum security United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, located in Florence, Colorado. The facility houses only the most dangerous federal prisoners in need of the tightest controls and is called the "Alcatraz of the Rockies".

See also

• Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be a principal architect of the September 11 plot
• Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh
• Mohammed Atta, supposed executive head of 9/11 terrorists, died in the attacks
• Ramzi Binalshibh, roommate of Atta, imprisoned under similar conditions as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

References

Other references

• (April 22, 2005). Moussaoui pleads guilty to role in 9/11 attacks. Guardian Unlimited/Associated Press.
• Timeline: The Zacarias Moussaoui Case. CNN.com.
• Indictment, U.S. v. Moussaoui, July 16, 2002 (PDF)
• Viveca Novak (October 27, 2003) "How the Moussaoui Case Crumbled" TIME.
• Abd Samad Moussaoui, with Florence Bouquillat (April 19, 2003). "Zacarias, My Brother: The Making of a Terrorist" The Guardian.
• Diana Lynne (January 10, 2003). FBI rewarding incompetence? WorldNetDaily.
• Chaim Kupferberg (November 14, 2003). "Truth, Lies, and The Legend of 9/11" Excerpted from "Truth, Lies, and The Legend of 9/11."
• Dean Staley (April 19, 2005). The Grounded Man. The Rake.
• "Al Jazeera: Moussaoui scorns 9/11 victims" (April 14, 2006)
• Special Verdict Form for Phase II Official jury ballot (PDF)
• "Moussaoui formally sentenced, still defiant". Associated Press, MSNBC.com.
• "Moussaoui headed for ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’", MSNBC.com