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9/11 suspect could face death
29/07/2005 14:28 - (SA)
Richmond - Saving Frenchman Zacarias Moussaoui from the death penalty after he confessed to plotting the September 11 attacks will be a tough sell, said his attorney on Thursday.
Gerry Zerkin said it would be "one of the hardest cases to beat the death penalty. But yes, I think there's a chance".
Moussaoui, who had also confessed loyalty to al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, was the only person brought to trial in a United States civilian court in connection with the attacks.
Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered that selection of a jury to determine his penalty would begin on January 9, and opening statements would begin on February 6, in a US courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington.
Moussaoui 'eligible for death penalty'
Moussaoui pleaded guilty on six charges, four of which could bring the death penalty.
Zerkin said: "We will be asking serious questions as to whether he is eligible for the death penalty."
He said the government lawyers would have the upper hand "when they show people jumping out of the windows of the World Trade Centre buildings".
Zerkin said that the US government, backed by the Supreme Court, had refused on grounds of national security to allow the testimony of three accused terrorists, whom Moussaoui said would testify that he was not involved in the September 11 2001 attacks, which killed nearly 3 000 people.
"In the sentencing phase, the government will have to prove he did something that directly resulted in the death of victims from the 9/11 attacks."
Moussaoui signs statement of facts
The official US commission that looked into the attacks said captured al-Qaeda leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, told interrogators that Moussaoui was to be used in a loosely planned "second wave" of the attacks.
Despite his insistence that he was not part of the 9/11 operation, Moussaoui signed the statement of facts as "the 20th hijacker".
The 36-year-old Frenchman had said bin Laden had chosen him to fly a jet into the White House.
Nineteen men hijacked the four jets and crashed them into the World Trade Centre twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon near Washington and a field in Pennsylvania.
Moussaoui could renew calls to be allowed to question al-Qaeda leaders kept in secret detention by the US - before a jury starts to decide on the penalty.
- AFP
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