US Features
Moussaoui takes stand, likely harms his own cause
By Chris Cermak
Mar 28, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Alexandria, Virginia - Zacarias Moussaoui took the stand in his own defence Monday at his death penalty trial, but his testimony seemed to breath new life into a faltering prosecution case.

The confessed al-Qaeda member is the only man accused convicted in the US for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

In a tense Alexandria, Virginia court room, Moussaoui described his intricate involvement with al-Qaeda, the September 11 attacks and his rejoice at the plot\'s success.

Until now, the French national of Moroccan descent had insisted that he was not part of the September 11 plot, which killed 3,000 people in attacks against New York and Washington, instead saying he was to be part of a \'second wave.\'

But in testimony Monday, he spoke at great length of his own plan to pilot a fifth plane into the White House - personally sanctioned by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden - and that was part of the same plot that took place on September 11.

Moussaoui spoke in a chilling, matter-of-fact tone and showed few signs of passion or remorse, whether describing his encounters with bin Laden, managing a guest house at a training camp in Afghanistan, or describing his pleasure in the destruction wrought on September 11.

In another blow to his own defence, Moussaoui for the first time admitted having knowledge of the September 11 plot at the time of his arrested in August 2001, three weeks before the suicide hijackings.

\'I knew the towers would be hit,\' he testified.

Moussaoui has insisted on testifying ever since his trial started four years ago, despite objections from his court-appointed lawyers.

Getting his way Monday, Moussaoui appeared calm, patient and seemingly resigned to his fate, whatever the outcome of the sentencing hearing.

When prosecutor Robert Spencer asked Moussaoui if he wanted the death penalty, he responded: \'I believe life and death are in the hands of God.\'

Proceedings in the trial have been plagued by legal wranglings since the beginning. The trial was held up for more than two years as Moussaoui sought to admit testimony of two fellow al-Qaeda members currently in US captivity.

Meanwhile, the prosecution\'s case was nearly derailed when it emerged on March 13 that Carla Martin, a government lawyer, had emailed testimony transcripts and coached federal aviation witnesses, against explicit orders from Judge Leonie Brinkema, presiding over the federal trial.

Moussaoui has refused to work with court-appointed lawyers, who he argued were part of a conspiracy to kill him. They were nevertheless imposed on him by Brinkema in 2003.

Moussaoui has had a haughty relationship with his lawyers ever since, and on Monday proved more cooperative to prosecutors than to his own representation.

\'If you want to know why I didn\'t want you to be my lawyer I will tell you,\' he told defence attorney Jerry Zerkin. \'I know that you are American and want my death.\'

Defence attorneys had also made one final attempt to prevent his testimony, by arguing that he would be unable to tell the truth on the stand as a member of al-Qaeda, which views all Western institutions as illegitimate. But Moussaoui himself couched the truth of his testimony in religious terms, saying that he would site an Islamic oath after his testimony affirming that he had told the truth.

Moussaoui is the only person convicted in the US for his role in the September 11 attacks. Other countries\' attempts to convict al- Qaeda members have proven similarly complicated.

Munir al-Motassadeq, an Islamic student who was a close friend of three of the September 11 hijackers who studied in Hamburg, was sentenced to seven years in a retrial in August, after a first conviction was overturned. But he is currently free on bail pending a second appeal.

Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, was sentenced in September in Spain to 27 years in prison for his role in the attacks. But prosecutors failed to convince a judge of the connections of two other defendants in the trial.

Some of the most disturbing moments of Monday\'s testimony were when Moussaoui nonchalantly admitted to the pleasure he took in the September 11 attacks.

\'It was a picture,\' he said of the World Trade Center towers\' ruins, proceeding to describe the first time he viewed the ruins in a flight over the region in 2002.

Prosecutor Spencer then took him through the planned hijacking, asking if he would have been prepared to cut the throat of one of the passengers or a stewardess.

\'If it\'s necessary, yes,\' Moussaoui said, with little sign of emotion. <!--page-->

But defence attorneys do not necessarily need to refute much of the disturbing testimony offered by Moussaoui. A guilty plea in April to multiple counts of conspiracy already secured life in prison without parole, leaving jurors only to decide whether or not he should face capital punishment.

To secure the death penalty, prosecutors must prove that Moussaoui could have directly prevented the September 11 attacks, had he told the truth to FBI agents upon his arrest in August 2001.

Moussaoui\'s sympathy with the hijackers and the role he might have hoped to play in the attacks are irrelevant to the case, though it likely had a strong impact on the jury.

What really matters is whether Moussaoui was directly responsible for the deaths of the more than 3,000 people killed in New York and Washington.

Moussaoui did help the defence case by admitting that he had not had contact with the hijackers after arriving in the US in early 2001, and said that he had little knowledge of the specifics of the 9/11 plot.

Defence attorneys will spend the rest of the case portraying the FBI as unable to untangle the clues they already had.

\'The FBI has to have a confession before anybody listens?\' defence attorney Edward MacMahon asked last week.