- The trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged
in the September 11 attacks, is set to go forward as scheduled this fall,
after the French national ultimately pleaded not guilty in a chaotic court
appearance.
-
- Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker in the attacks,
began by telling US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema on Thursday that
he would plead guilty to four of the six charges against him, the four
of which carry the death penalty.
-
- But after a one-hour recess, the volatile 34-year-old
changed his mind, following a warning from Brinkema that a guilty plea
would require him to accept responsibility for the attacks and reveal his
relationship to the al-Qaeda network accused of carrying them out.
-
- "In Islam, suicide is forbidden. I cannot endorse
in a rational manner the conditions you are putting on my guilty plea,
because that will mean death to me," he said before a packed federal
courtroom here.
-
- "Under my obligation to my creator, Allah, to save
and defend my life, I withdraw my guilty plea," he told the court,
which sits not far from the Pentagon, one of the US buildings struck by
a hijacked airliner on September 11.
-
- "Hamlet said: 'To be or not to be, that is the question,'"
he said, quoting William Shakespeare.
-
- "I say: To plead guilty or not to plead guilty,
that is the question."
-
- Moussaoui is charged with conspiracy to commit acts of
terror that transcend international borders; conspiracy to commit aircraft
piracy; conspiracy to destroy aircraft; conspiracy to use weapons of mass
destruction; conspiracy to murder US employees; and conspiracy to destroy
property.
-
- The dramatic series of events came after the Islamist's
attempt to plead guilty last week was rejected by the judge.
-
- Moussaoui last week admitted he was a member of Osama
bin Laden's al-Qaeda network but has repeatedly denied taking part in the
planning or execution of the strikes, which killed around 3,000 people.
-
- He is the only person who has been indicted in connection
to the attacks, and prosecutors allege he would have been the 20th hijacker
had he not been arrested earlier last year on immigration violations.
-
- His mother, Aicha al-Wafi, showed relief in the courtroom
when her son said there would be a "change in tactics" in his
defense, which he is conducting himself after firing his court-appointed
attorneys.
-
- He said he would begin to communicate in writing with
attorneys to "assign these people to find different witnesses to be
able to expose them."
-
- In particular, he mentioned a "British agent"
whom he named as Ahmed Atef Ahmed. He said Ahmed was "implicated in
the conspiracy" and added: "The FBI knows this."
-
- As a terror suspect, Moussaoui can only have direct communication
with a lawyer of record and his family. He is being held in isolation.
-
- Frank Dunham, leading his standby legal counsel, told
reporters: "I think that he found out what the repercussions of a
guilty plea were."
-
- "I don't think he understood that he had to admit
9-11 in order to plead guilty," Dunham said. "He showed how serious
he is about denying his involvement in 9-11."
-
- The defense team has requested a new psychiatric evaluation
of Moussaoui to determine whether he is competent to defend himself in
a case that is being followed around the world.
-
- "My son cannot really think rationally," his
mother said outside the courtroom.
-
- "He does not realize how much the world has changed
since September 11. The American justice system is stronger than my son.
He is well educated, but he is not a lawyer."
-
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